The Story of Suzuka Tachibana: A Sword Art Online Side Story
by Shiori07
Summary: We all know what happened to Kirito in SAO, but how were other players affected by this game? This is the story of Suzuka Tachibana, a small, insecure girl that should be finishing her last year in junior high. One day, she and her older sister log into SAO, unaware that they will not be able to log-out until the game is cleared. How will they endure the pain this game will cause?
1. Chapter 1: A Virtual World

Chapter One: A Virtual World

**Author's notes: Hello, fellow writers, nice to meet you. I am sure that you are delighted to meet me too. This is my first fan fiction and it is takes place in Sword Art Online. Just in case you didn't know, my characters Suzuka and Honoka are my original characters and they did not come from the actual Sword Art Online. If you have any comments or feedback feel free to post it. I would be grateful because I could use your comments to make myself a better writer or maybe get some inspiration. Please read and enjoy what I think other people's lives could have been like inside SAO.**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Sword Art Online nor do I own the plot, scenes, or any of the characters that came with it. I only own my original characters. Also, the text in this chapter said by anyone other than my original characters was borrowed from the subtitles from the anime of Sword Art Online. **

"In 2022, mankind finally built a full virtual environment."

2022/11/06 Sunday

"All right, we're under way! It's time for this week's MMO Stream. First we just had you watch a promotional video . . . Are we looking at the day of last week's launch? What could all these people in line be after? Sword Art Online! The one at the front of the line waited three days prior to launch. Amazing! Or is this just what any real gamer would do? On today's MMO Stream, we'll be covering the internationally famous Sword Art Online, AKA SAO! To be honest, none of the NerveGear software released so far has really taken advantage of the hardware. Yeah, they were crappy games, huh? But SAO was made by the NerveGear inventor, Akihiko Kayaba, and it's a long-awaited VR MMORPG. I can't wait! The beta testers all said it was incredible. I wish I could've gotten a copy too . . . Only 10,000 copies were sold in its first printing. It sold out online in seconds. And as you saw, hard-core fans bought all the store copies . . ."

The street was deserted and very quiet, especially for a Sunday afternoon. The trees all around were bare and the sky was cloudy, it looked as if it might snow. It was a cold, winter day; understandably, no one would want to be out anyway, at least, no one normal. Suddenly, a loud yell cut through the air and two girls came sprinting down the sidewalk, seeming to race each other. Both of them had large grins on their faces. Each of them held a copy of the new game Sword Art Online in their hands. The girl in the lead was about a head taller than the other, with glossy, light brown, waist-length hair and almond colored eyes. The girl falling behind looked like she didn't exercise regularly, but was as thin as a stick. Her eyes and hair were the same color as the other girl's, but her hair was chin-length and not as glossy.

The girl falling behind was running out of breath, but was trying to keep up with the other girl. The long-haired girl noticed this and slowed down so her companion could catch up to her. As they drew even, the taller girl smiled and the shorter one smiled back. They continued to run for several minutes until they reached the gate of a house. They opened the gate and let themselves inside, closing the gate behind them. Then the shorter girl opened the front door and let the taller one in first, she followed and leaned against the door as she closed it behind her. They were breathing hard, the taller one with her hands on her hips and smaller one slightly bent over with her eyes closed, clutching a stitch in her side. After a moment she stood up straight, smiling. Then she leaped into the air, one fist up.

"Yes! I can't believe we got to stay at the videogame store all night and buy Sword Art Online!" she yelled excitedly.

"Quiet down, Suzu-chan," the taller girl said with a laugh, "the neighbors might hear you."

"Sorry, Honoka-nee!" Suzuka Tachibana said with a giggle.

Honoka turned to her little sister. "So, are you ready to give this game a shot?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Suzuka said, and then hesitated. "Wait, don't you have something to do first?"

"Like what?"

Suzuka smirked. "Don't play dumb. You know. You need to call that boy back. What was his name again?"

"No. I don't need to do anything like that." Honoka said with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"Why not?" Her sister asked slyly.

"You know perfectly well why."

Suzuka sighed. "Yeah, yeah." She bent down and began to take her shoes off. "So, let's go play with our new game!"

Honoka followed her lead. "I'm glad to see that you're into something other than manga and anime for once."

Suzuka blushed. "Shut up!" She said quickly. Suzuka was an otaku so it was rare to see her excited about anything but manga and anime. "A lot of my friends were really excited about this game and I think it is really cool, too."

"You and your otaku friends?"

Suzuka blushed deeper. "Come on. Just admit that you are interested in the full-dive system too."

Honoka chuckled. "True, I am." The idea of feeling like you live in a completely different world intrigued Honoka and she wanted to investigate. She also believed it was a good opportunity to spend more time with her sister.

The younger sister stepped up and toward the staircase. "Well, let's go."

"You get a head start. I'll leave a note for Kyou so she knows that we will log out in time for dinner."

"That's a good idea. That way she won't yank the NerveGear off of us while we're playing." Suzuka began to head up the steps. "See you there!" She yelled. She ran up, past several picture frames and doors to her room. She closed the door behind her and quickly went up to her computer. She inserted the SAO software and powered the computer on. It made several beeping noises and a few lights lit up. Suzuka then plugged in the NerveGear and put the helmet on her head. She plopped down on her bed and layed back onto her pillow. On the screen inside the NerveGear, Suzuka could see the battery icon say it was charging and the clock said it was 1:02.

She smiled, then said, "Link start!"

Her vision turned white, then many colors rushed into her vision. Icons began to appear. Touch. Ok. Sight. Ok. Hearing. Ok. Taste. Ok. Smell. Ok. Language. Japanese. The log-in screen appeared and Suzuka typed her password and username for her account in with a keyboard that seemed to float in front of her. Then the image of a generic girl appeared in front of her. A text box popped up saying: please create your avatar. Suzuka thought a moment, then began shaping her new, virtual body. She definitely made herself taller and her body fuller. The hair she made shoulder length, straight, and dark. Her eyes, however, she set to be bright blue. There was also a box that asked "what is your favorite color?" Suzuka played around with it and discovered that the colors she chose were put onto her avatar's shirt. Her favorite color was silver, but that was not an option, so Suzuka chose gray instead. Happy with what she looked like, Suzuka pressed done. Are you sure you are finished creating your avatar? Yes. Her vision turned completely white again and stayed that way for a few seconds, then music played and the words "Welcome to Sword Art Online!" appeared. The color blue rushed into her vision and before she knew it, she was blinking at the sight of a town square.

Suzuka looked down at herself. It was incredible, like she was staring down at a real body. She looked around. Even the people looked real. It was hard to believe that this was a virtual world. Excitement bubbled up inside her. She jumped into the air and yelled, "This is amazing!"

The girl did not know where to start so she began to run. She ran through the crowds of people, but, she could not stop herself from occasionally stopping to look at the various stands that were set up. After a while, her endurance ran out and she had to stop to regain it. She stood there breathing deeply, then she thought she had finally given Honoka enough time to log-in.

Suzuka pulled up her menu and looked at the map, trying to choose a good meeting spot for her and her sister. Then she selected "friends" and entered the username that Honoka told her that she would use and invited her to be friends. She hadn't waited long when a pop-up appeared saying "your friend request has been accepted." Suzuka then sent a message to her sister saying "meet at the western entrance to the town." She then began to make her way to the western entrance, referring to her map when she did not know where to go.

Eventually, after weaving her way through many streets and alleys, Suzuka made it. A few people were there, talking, running, and testing their swords, but the person that stood out to her, was a girl leaning against the wall, inspecting her sword. She looked similar to Honoka, the only real difference was that her skin was paler and her hair was blonde. As Suzuka made her way over to the girl, she noticed Suzuka and put her sword away.

"Is that you, Suzu-chan?" she asked.

Irritated, Suzuka said, "Yes, but you do know that it is rude to bring matters of the real world into online games with you right? That includes real names. My name here is Felicita."

"Right," Her sister said. "I'm sorry. Can I call you Fel-chan then?"

"I suppose, you're forgiven, Kinade-san," Felicita said, using the name she suggested for her sister to use. "And I guess you can call me that."

Kinade came up and put an arm around her sister. "So, what now?" she asked. Felicita thought, then pulled out her sword with a grin.

"Let's see what this system can do, shall we?"

After that, they ran around the fields surrounding The Town of Beginnings and tested their skills on the wild boar monsters that roamed there. It was hard to describe how to work it but, after reading what was under help in the menu, they figured out how to use their sword skills. They had to charge it, in a way, by holding their weapon like they were ready to strike, then, when it felt like it would burst, they lashed out. After a while, both of them became better at using their skills. However, Felicita saw that Kinade was more of a natural at it than she was.

As the sun got lower in the sky, turning it a red orange, the girls laid in the grass on a hill and looked up at the sky, talking about the game.

"It's amazing," Felicita was saying, holding her sword up above her head. "Everything about this world feels real and you have the potential to go so far too."

Kinade nodded. "Yeah, but don't forget that the real world is just the same, you just don't use a sword."

Felicita let her sword drop to her side. "Uh-huh," was her reply.

Kinade sat up. "It is really cool here, though, I have to admit. It's hard for me to believe that we're in a game."

Felicita continued to stare at the sky. It was so pretty and the air was cool, she felt as though she could take a nice, peaceful nap. A small ringing sound came from her left and she glanced in its direction. Kinade had pulled up her menu.

"It's 5:25, we better wrap this up soon so we can log-out in time for dinner." The older sister said as she looked at her menu. She gestured somewhere out of her sister's line of vision. "You want to take care of that one and then head home?"

The younger girl sat up. A wild boar had come to the bottom of the hill as they had been talking. It was grazing, not paying much attention to them. "Sure," she said as she pulled out her sword. She stood up and held her weapon at the ready. She took a moment, then she sprinted toward the monster. It noticed and turned toward her. It pawed the ground preparing to charge. As Felicita got closer, the boar squealed and charged. All of the girl's attention was focused on that boar.

That's why she was extremely startled by the sudden bells tolling in the distance. She looked around confused. "Fel-chan!" Her sister yelled.

"Crap," Felicita thought. "I lost my focus." She looked back at her opponent but it was too late to defend herself. She flinched even though she knew it wouldn't hurt. There was a shattering sound, then Felicita felt herself being caught by someone. Opening her eyes, she found herself being steadied by the hands of her sister.

"You okay?" Kinade asked.

"Yeah," Felicita said, a little startled at how her sister had saved her so quickly. "But what is that?" she asked, referring to the tolling.

"I'm not sure." Then a blue-ish fire enveloped them. They both gasped in surprise. Then, they appeared in a large square.

"What?" Felicita said looking around.

"Suzu-chan, what's happening?" Kinade asked.

Felicita was too startled to get angry about Kinade calling her by her real name. "Someone forced a teleport!" She answered. She looked up and saw a blinking red warning sign in the sky. "Look!" She said to her older sister, pointing at it."

The signs multiplied, some saying "Warning," others saying "System Announcement." Then something seemed to ooze between them. It looked like blood. It dripped down and gathered in mid-air, bulging up and taking a shape, a hooded, human figure. It looked like a game master. Felicita relaxed a little. This was probably just some weird official opening ceremony. It was unsettling that he did not have a face though.

Then he began to speak. "Attention, players." His voice rang throughout the square. "Welcome to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. As of this moment, I am the only person able to control this world."

All Felicita and Kinade could do was stare. Felicita whispered to herself "Is that really him?"

Akihiko Kayaba continued to speak. "I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu."

"What?" Felicita checked her menu. What he said was true.

"But this is not a defect in the game." The hooded figure was saying. "I repeat, this is not a defect in the game, but a key feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log-out of SAO of your own will, and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit powerful microwaves, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."

"That can't be true." Felicita heard her sister say. Then she saw someone try to leave the square, but a barrier prevented them. She could also hear someone saying that it was true that the NerveGear used microwaves and that it had the potential to fry a brain.

Kayaba spoke again. "Unfortunately, there have been several instances where players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and attempted to forcibly remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players have exited permanently, from both Aincrad and the real world. "Shock and disbelief filled Felicita's mind. "As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting on this situation, including the multiple deaths." Many screens appeared next to the figure, circling him. On them was news coverage of the deaths involved with SAO and pictures of several victims. "Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed has been reduced. So, I would like you all to focus on clearing the game. But be sure to keep this in mind, there is no longer any function to revive someone within the game. The instant your HP drops to zero, your avatars will vanish forever, and simultaneously, your brains will be destroyed by the NerveGear." Felicita imagined herself shattering just like the boars they had fought in the fields and found herself unable to breathe.

"The one condition for your escape is to complete this game." He pulled up a map. "You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, floor one. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level." An entire map of Aincrad could be seen now and red lights began to appear in spots between each floor. "Defeat the final boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game."

Felicita gasped. "All 100?" It seemed like a very daunting task. No way could they do it.

"Now then, finally, I've provided you all with a present in your item storage. Please see for yourselves."

Felicita did it without really thinking about it. She opened her menu and went to her item storage. She tapped on the only item that popped up. A mirror? She looked into it, her avatar's face staring back at her. What the hell was this for? Then a blue-ish light appeared in the corner of her eye. She looked over and her sister screamed as she was engulfed in the flames. "Onee-chan!" Felicita screamed just as the flames enveloped her as well.

The flames disappeared as quickly as they appeared and Felicita was standing there as if nothing happened. She looked down at herself. Nothing seemed terribly wrong. Except . . .

"Suzu-chan!" Felicita looked up. Her sister looked at her with a surprised look on her face. Felicita was surprised as well. Her sister looked like her sister again, her skin tone and hair color looked like they did in the real world. Then that could mean . . .

Felicita looked at the mirror in her hands. She didn't look like Felicita anymore. She looked like she did in the real world. She looked like Suzuka Tachibana once again.

"How?" Felicita asked.

Kinade understood what she meant. "The NerveGear covers your whole head so it knows what you look like, and it asked you to do a calibration thing when we first installed the NerveGear remember? So it knows our body type."

"Why would Kayaba make us look like our normal bodies? Why would he do this?"

Akihiko Kayaba began to talk again. "Right now, you must all be wondering, 'Why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do such a thing?' My goal has been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason . . . to create this world and meddle in it. And now, all is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. I wish you luck, players." The hooded figure began to dissolve and the blood went back through the red signs in the virtual sky. Then they disappeared and the sky went to normal.

Everyone in the square was silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then someone screamed "No!" and the crowd began to stir. Eventually everyone was screaming, yelling their disbelief, fear, and anger.

Suzuka looked at Honoka and Honoka looked at Suzuka. They were both scared and full of shock. They could not find the strength to move, but could only stare at each other in the midst of the rioting crowd. They were definitely going to be late for dinner.

**Author's Notes: So, that was the first chapter of my SAO fan fiction. I thank you if you read this far. If you thought it was boring I apologize, but I promise it will get more interesting from here on out, I have a lot of ideas, so please bear with me.**


	2. Chapter 2: Bonds

Chapter Two: Bonds

**A/N: This is the second chapter of my SAO fan fiction. I really hope you like it. This will probably be the last time I use events from the anime and I promise the next chapter will be more interesting. If you have any suggestions or comments I would appreciate it if you would leave a review for me. **

**Disclaimer: For this chapter, I borrowed dialogue for all of the characters other my OC's and Silica from the anime of SAO.**

"In the game's first month, 2,000 people died. Floor one has yet to be cleared."

2022/12/02

About a month has passed since this death game began and 2,000 people have already died. No one has been able to clear the first floor or find the boss's lair. However, today there will be a meeting of players to discuss a way to find and defeat this boss.

Felicita and Kinade sat in the stands around the area the meeting was being held in. Neither of them had much confidence that they could help defeat or find the boss, but they both felt that they had to do something in the matter.

Felicita looked around. There weren't many people there but she figured it was better than no one showing up. She turned to her sister. "Is this really going to work?" she asked.

"You never know," Kinade answered. "Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We won't know unless we give it a shot."

"Yeah." Felicita said leaning back on the step behind her with her elbows. She looked at Kinade. "But why do you always have to say things like that, all philosophical-like."

Kinade laughed. Then she looked down at the guy that had suddenly walked to the front. "The meeting's starting." was all she said.

The guy began to speak. "Okay, let's get started people! Thank you for responding to my summons today. My name is Diabel. My job is . . . in my own mind, I like to think I'm a 'knight.'" There was some laughing from the crowd. Felicita laughed too; there was no job system in this game.

"You should take this seriously!" Diabel continued, his face becoming serious. "Today, our party discovered the boss room at the top of the tower." Felicita sat up, surprised. "We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it _is_ possible to beat this game. And that's the duty of every one of us here now! Isn't that right everybody?" There was muttering in the crowd, then people began to clap, there were even a few people whistling. Felicita and Kinade clapped along with them.

"Then without further delay, I'd like to get this boss-raid meeting started." Diabel said, putting his hands out. "First, I want you to team up into parties of six. A conventional party has no chance against a Floor Boss. We'll need to form a raid group using multiple parties."

Kinade elbowed her sister. "Well we're two, right?" She said with a grin.

"Yeah," Felicita smiled back and she and her sister high-fived. "So, who will be the rest of our party?"

The girls looked around. Everyone else seemed to know everyone else so parties seemed to form among them automatically. Felicita and Kinade had mostly kept to themselves since SAO started so they were not going to form a party as easily. Felicita continued to look. Then she saw a girl sitting by herself. Her hair was a pinkish color and in small pigtails. Felicita got up and went over to her, Kinade following close behind.

Felicita sat next to the girl. The girl looked up at her. Felicita smiled. "Hi," she began. "Do you have a party yet?" The girl shook her head. "Do you want to join us?" Felicita asked a little nervously, gesturing to herself and her sister who waved.

"Really?" The shy girl asked. Felicita nodded. "Okay." The girl said timidly. Kinade sent her a party invitation and she accepted, becoming a member of Felicita and Kinade's party.

Another health bar appeared under theirs in Felicita's vision. Felicita put her hand out. "My name's Felicita. What's yours?"

The girl took her hand. "I'm Silica." She said a little shakily. They shook.

Silica then took Kinade's outstretched hand. "I'm Kinade." Kinade said "Nice to meet you." The three girls smiled at each other for a moment. Then a voice interrupted them.

"Hey," The girls looked up. Two guys and a girl stood next to them. One boy spoke. "I'm Ryner." He said. Then he gestured to the girl next to him and then the other guy. "This is Riku and Toma. We could only make a party of three. Seems you have the same problem. Maybe we could help each other out." Kinade and Felicita looked at each other. They had no other choice so their six person party was formed.

"Okay, are you done forming your parties?" Diabel asked the group at large. "Then-"

"Hold up a second!" Someone jumped down out of the stands. "My name's Kibaou." He said. "There's something I wanna say before we take on the boss. Some of you here need to apologize to the 2,000 who have died so far!" People in the crowd began to mutter. Felicita sighed. Who did this guy think he was?

Diabel spoke. "Kibaou, these people you're referring to . . . do you mean the ex-beta testers, perhaps?"

"Of course I do!" Kibaou shouted. "On the day this stupid game started, the beta guys ditched us beginners, and they all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so they were the only ones getting stronger. And since then, they've just ignored the rest of us. There's got to be some of them here! Guys who were beta testers! We should make them get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money they've hoarded. As party members, we can't trust them with our lives, and they can't trust us!"

There was silence. People were looking around suspiciously at each other. Felicita and Kinade looked at each other. This guy was ridiculous. Did he not know about the free guidebook the beta testers put together that was being handed out at all the item stores? Besides, the beta version always changes when it becomes an official game, so it was not guaranteed that everything the beta testers knew was still true. They were basically in the same boat as everyone else.

"Can I say something?" A large man in front with dark skin raised his hand and stood up. He walked up to Kibaou and said "My name is Agil. Kibaou, let me get this straight . . . You're saying that because the ex-beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation."

"Y-Yeah." Kibaou said.

"You received this guidebook too, didn't you?" He pulled out a small, brown, leather bound book. "It _is_ provided for free at the item store, after all."

"Sure, I got it . . . So what if I did?"

"It was the beta-testers who were distributing these."

Some people in the crowd were surprised by this information. Felicita looked Agil. "Finally someone with some sense." She thought.

"Listen up." Agil said, turning toward the crowd. "Everyone had equal access to this information. And yet many players still died. What to learn from those failures and how to try to defeat the boss . . . That's what I thought we'd be discussing here. "He looked back at Kibaou. They looked at each other for a while, then Kibaou looked away and they both sat back down.

"Okay, can we resume the meeting now?" Diabel asked. Several people nodded. "As for information on the boss . . . Actually, the latest edition of that guidebook was just issued." He held up another book similar to Agil's. "According to it, the boss's name is Ilfang the Kobold Lord. Also, he has an entourage known as the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. The boss is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one is in red, he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a Talwar. His attack pattern changes too." The crowd muttered again. Diabel closed the guidebook. "This concludes the briefing. Lastly, regarding item distribution, money will be automatically divided equally. EXP goes to the party that defeats the monster. And whoever receives an item keeps it. Any objections?" there was more muttering, but no one objected. "Okay, we leave tomorrow at 10 in the morning. All right . . . dismissed!"

* * *

Kinade walked into the room that Felicita was renting at the inn for the night. She threw something at her and said "Here, I bought dinner."

Felicita caught it. "These bread things again?" She asked.

"What? I like them." Kinade said, taking a bite.

"It's not that I don't like them." Felicita said, also taking a bite. "It's just that we've been eating the same thing for a while now. It's getting a little dull." She sat on the edge of her bed. "Do you have any cream left from that quest we did in the last town?"

Kinade shook her head. "No, we used it up yesterday."

"Aw." Felicita laid back on her bed. "That stuff made this crap taste better."

"I thought you just said you liked them."

"I already told you, I just got a little tired of them."

They finished their dinner in silence. As Felicita ate, all she could think about was the next day. She couldn't deny it, she was a little scared. Kinade noticed.

"Hey, we'll be fine tomorrow, okay?" The older sister said. She was sitting at the small table near the foot of the bed.

Felicita sat up. "I know that you will be," she said. "But I can't help feeling that I may die tomorrow." She gripped her hands together, remembering the day they finally left the Town of Beginnings.

* * *

They were running along the path to the next town. It was almost like when they were racing home with the SAO software, Kinade was in front and Felicita was in the back. They had to be careful or else they would be attacked by monsters. Apparently they had not been careful enough because they were soon ambushed by a pack of wolves.

Felicita managed to kill one, but another one scratched her from behind, reducing her HP by half. Kinade screamed her name and Felicita was in danger of being overrun. She closed her eyes, thinking it was over. Then there were several shattering sounds. Felicita opened her eyes, surprised. Kinade had saved her again. The younger sister could not believe what she was seeing. Kinade had been a ways away when they were attacked, she was so fast and . . . amazing.

* * *

At the inn, Kinade sat on the bed and put her hands on her sister's. "You'll be fine. I promise. I'll always protect you. That's my goal remember?"

Felicita looked at her sister, she remembered. Of course she did. How could she forget?

* * *

They were in their room in the real world. It was when they were younger and they shared a room. Suzuka was crying into her pillow and Honoka was sitting next to her, an arm around her shoulders.

"Why?" Suzuka said between sobs. "Why would they leave? Don't they love us?" Kinade didn't know how to respond, all she could do was pat her younger sister's back. They sat like that for a while. Then, after Suzuka calmed down a little, she looked at her sister. "Is it _our_ fault? Is it _my_ fault?" She asked.

"No! It's not." Honoka said pulling her sister's head to her chest. "Do you understand? It's not your fault." Honoka cupped her sister's face in her hands an looked into her eyes. Honoka let go and went to her own bed. She sat there for a while, then she suddenly seemed angry. The girl grabbed her pillow and threw it against the wall. "It's _their_ fault!" she said, going over to her pillow on the floor. She began to punch it repeatedly, saying "_They_ did this!" every other punch. Suzuka felt slightly frightened by her sister's tantrum.

Finally Suzuka tried to calm her down. "Um, Honoka-nee-"

Honoka interrupted her chant to say one sentence. "I promise that I'll take care of you, Suzuka, better than _they_ ever could!"

* * *

Felicita smiled at Kinade. "Yeah, I remember."

* * *

2022/12/03

They were walking with the boss raid group through the Floor One Forest Field. No one was talking much. Some were going over the strategy but that was really it, everyone was nervous.

In front of the boss room, Diabel turned and put his sword into the ground. "Listen up, everyone," he said. "I have only one thing to say. Let's win!" Kinade put a hand on Felicita's shoulder. Felicita looked at her older sister. They nodded at each other.

"Let's go!" Diabel shouted. He turned and opened the doors to the boss room.

It was dark at first, Felicita couldn't see anything. Then it slowly became lighter. It was a long room; columns lined the wide path that led to a large throne in the back. Sitting in the throne was a large figure. Its eyes glowed red. The group stepped in and bright lights blared, the stone walls turned into stain glass windows. Ilfang the Kobold Lord leaped toward them, he looked almost like a large, red dog. His four sentinels appeared around him, they looked like miniature versions of him, only they had armor. The monsters began to charge.

"Commence attack!" Diabel yelled. The parties charged toward their enemies.

Felicita could not remember the majority of the beginning of the fight, all she could remember was Diabel shouting orders and the slash of her sword. She could not help but watch her sister fight though, she was so graceful and quick, she almost looked like she was dancing. Unfortunately, this distracted Felicita and a sentinel was able to knock her back.

"Fel-chan!" Kinade yelled.

"I got her!" Someone yelled back. Felicita was caught from behind by someone. The momentum sent them both sprawling, but Felicita definitely would have taken more damage if she hadn't been caught. She looked up so see her savior. It was Ryner. Felicita was very conscious of the fact that she was still half laying on him and his arms were around her waist. "Are you okay?" he asked with a grimace.

Felicita was pretty sure that if she were in the real world she would be blushing. Actually, she was starting to think that she _was_ blushing. "Yeah, I mean, I'm sorry! Are you okay? You didn't have to catch me!" Felicita got off and knelt beside him.

He propped himself on his elbows. "I'm fine. Anyway, we're in a party, we look out for each other, right?" he looked at the battle. "I should get back." He said. He stood up and got out a small bottle. "Here," he said handing it to Felicita. "Come back to the battle when your HP is up, okay?" He smiled and charged back into the fray.

Silica ran to Felicita. "Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked frantically.

Felicita looked at her. "A little, but I'll be fine." She answered, then looked at the bottle Ryner gave her. It held a red liquid. She drank it and her HP went from the yellow back into the green. As she finished it, the bottle shattered in her hands. Felicita made a mental note to herself to pay Ryner back for it later.

Ryner. She couldn't help but think about his arms around her waist. She blushed again. Then a roar came from the boss, its last health bar was red. Right, there was a battle going on.

Felicita stood up. "Ready, Silica?"

Silica stood up too. "Yeah!" she answered determinedly. They ran back to the fight. The boss threw his axe and buckler away.

"Looks like the information was right." Kibaou said.

"Stand back, I'll go!" Diabel yelled, rushing forward.

Felicita thought that he was deviating from the plan but she didn't pay much attention to it. She and Silica joined their party as they fought off one of the sentinels. Kinade, Riku, Ryner, and Toma were doing pretty well with it. They switched in sync, they barely needed to talk to each other before doing it. However, one was coming up on Kinade from behind.

"Silica!" Felicita yelled.

"Right!" Silica yelled back. They charged the sentinel behind Kinade. Kinade barely turned before the sentinel slashed at her. Felicita hit its poleaxe away before it hit her and Silica switched with her seamlessly.

"I thought you could use some help." Felicita said to her sister.

Kinade smiled. "Thanks Fel-chan." She said. Ryner caught Felicita's eye. He nodded to her and Felicita smiled at him. After that the party continued to work together and they defeated both sentinels, the finishing blows were done by Kinade and Toma. They finished just in time to watch the left over party of two defeat the boss. Ilfang the Kobold Lord shattered and everyone erupted into cheers and shouts of triumph. Felicita hugged Silica, then Kinade. She couldn't stop smiling and cheering, she was so relieved. The lights dimmed and the walls became stone again.

Then everyone calmed down as Agil and a girl in red and white congratulated the boy who got the last attacking bonus.

"Good work." The girl said.

"That was splendid swordsmanship." Agil added. "Congratulations. This victory belongs to you."

"No . . ." he said looking up at them. He was still kneeling on the ground from the battle. Then everyone started cheering for him. Felicita joined in, he and that girl were amazing.

"Why?" Someone yelled. Everyone looked around. It was Kibaou; he was sitting on the ground near the back. "Why . . . Why did you let Diabel die?" Felicita was shocked. Diabel died?

"Let him die?" The boy asked.

"Of course!" Kibaou yelled again. "You knew that technique the boss would use! If you'd given us that information up front, he wouldn't have died!" There was muttering and people began to glance at the boy still kneeling on the ground.

"He must be an ex-beta tester!" Someone yelled. "That's how he knew all about the boss's attack patterns. He knew, but he kept it from us!" Could that be true? Had he known? Felicita looked at him. He was staring over his shoulder at everyone else. The longer Felicita stared, the less threatening he appeared. "There's gotta be others here too, right? Those beta testers! Come out!"

People looked at each other suspiciously. Some put their hands on their weapons. Agil and the girl that fought with the boy who got the attacking bonus went over to try and calm everyone down.

Then, the eeriest thing happened. The boy who got the last attacking bonus began to laugh. Everyone else grew quiet, but he continued to laugh. He got louder, then he said "An ex-beta tester, did you say?" Humor was still in his voice. "I wish you wouldn't compare me to those newbies."

"Wh-what?" Kibaou said.

The "ex-beta tester" continued to speak. "Most of the 1,000 people who won SAO beta test slots were beginners who didn't even know how to level up. Even you guys are better than them." He had walked up to Kibaou at this point and now he stood in front of him. "But I'm not like those guys. During the beta test, I made it to higher levels than anyone else was able to reach. The reason I knew about the boss's sword skills was because I fought tons of monsters with these skills on the floors far above us. I know lots of other things too, way more than any information broker."

"Wh-what?" Kibaou said again. "That's . . . That's way worse than a beta tester! That's cheating! You're a cheater. That's what you are!"

"A cheater!" people were saying. "A beta tester and a cheater. A Beater!" Felicita stayed quiet, she continued to look at this "beater." Somehow, she was skeptical about what he was saying.

"A beater . . ." the boy said. "That's a good name." People gasped. "That's right . . . I _am_ a beater." He pulled up his menu. "From now on, don't confuse me with the other testers." He selected something and a black coat appeared on his shoulders. After it settled he looked back at Kibaou and laughed softly, as if amused. Then he turned and walked to the door to the next floor.

* * *

On the next floor, Felicita's party was gathered in a clearing. Felicita, Kinade, Ryner, Riku, and Toma were grouped together, Felicita set out a little farther away. She was facing Silica who was all by herself a small distance away. Felcita was nervous and Silica was confused as to why they were there.

"So," Silica began. "What did you want to talk about, guys?"

"It's mostly Felicita who wants to talk to you." Ryner said, smirking.

"Just hear her out already." said Toma, who looked bored. "It's important to her; she needs to get it off of her chest."

Felicita shuffled her feet. "Silica, I have something to say." She said. "But please don't laugh if you think what I say is stupid because it's from my heart."

Silica blushed. "Wait! I don't think I'm ready for something like this yet! I don't know how I am going to react!"

Felicita came up to Silica and grasped both of her hands. "Please," she pleaded. "I need to say this now or I will regret keeping it to myself forever!"

Silica looked into Felicita's eyes. "Okay, I'll hear you out."

"Silica, I want to ask . . ." Felicita faultered. "I want to know if . . ." she had a hard time getting it out. Then, she decided that she needed to ask and if she got rejected, so be it. "I want to know if you'll form a guild with us!"

Silica was stunned for a moment. Then she said excitedly. "Yes!" Felicita squealed in delight and the two of them continued to hold hands as they jumped up and down in excitement.

"You know," Ryner said to the others. "The way this panned out made the situation seem a little different from what it actually was." He laughed.

Kinade turned to him. "You may be right. But it was Fel-chan's idea to form a guild with our party from the boss raid." She looked over at her sister and Silica dancing around. "She had the right to ask. And anyway, it wasn't a bad idea. Her reasoning was that we worked really well together while fighting the sentinels and I'd have to agree, we could all go far together."

The four seemingly more mature members of their new guild watched Felicita and Silica sit in the grass as they began to discuss the possible names for their new group.

**A/N: So there it is . . . chapter two. Thank you for reading this far . . . if you actually read it. Please review and tell me what you think! I would like to know all your inner thoughts . . . yeah, that did not sound creepy. My next chapter should be posted really soon!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Timber Wolves

Chapter Three: The Timber Wolves

**A/N: Hi! I am really sorry I am updating late. I had writer's block, you know how it is. Now, to answer reviews. For those of you that are wondering, yes, the actual main characters from SAO will be interacting with mine in this story, so not to worry Guest . . . person who was nice enough to leave a review. I had already planned for Kirito to be important too, he should be in the next chapter. Also, thanks to Maria Penner for the support (she has an Iron Fey series fanfic by the way if you guys are interested). **

2023/03/06

It has been a little over four months since the small guild that Felicita suggested to form, the Timber Wolves, was created. They were currently staying at an inn on Floor 24 and were trying to earn enough col to buy their own house. Right now they were in the dungeon on Floor 25, training.

Felicita stared at the large creature in front of her; it looked like a large wolf-man. It bared its fangs at her and tried to swipe its claws at her neck. Felicita froze on the spot with fear. A sword appeared and blocked the hit, pushing the beast back.

"Fel-chan, you need to focus!" Kinade yelled at her younger sister as she rushed up to engage the monster.

Felicita mentally shook herself and thought "Get it together." She charged and switched with her sister. She was only able to strike once before being knocked away. The wolf-man then charged Kinade. Riku, however, stepped in and knocked the monster aside with her mace. These three girls were fighting one wolf-man while Ryner, Toma, and Silica were fighting another. Felicita couldn't help but admire them and feel a little . . . inferior. They were so much better at fighting than she was.

Kinade and Riku were confronting their beast. Kinade slashed at it, then Riku switched in with her, only to be knocked aside and into Kinade. They both fell to the ground, the beast charging at them. Felicita's heart dropped. She quickly rushed up to try and help but the monster barely slowed down to knock her off her feet, bringing her HP into the yellow.

The wolf-man was about to finish Kinade and Riku off when Toma suddenly yelled and stabbed the monster from behind with his lance. It shattered before them and its data disappeared into the air. Toma looked pissed. "Can I not leave you alone to handle _anything_ by yourselves?" He asked angrily.

Just then, Silica screamed. She had been knocked to the floor, her sword out of reach and watched as Ryner was held up by his throat; the monster's claw was tight around his neck. Kinade reacted swiftly. She rolled from her back onto her hands and knees then rushed at the monster, stabbing it in the middle. It shattered like its companion had, letting Ryner drop to the ground gasping for breath, barely able to let out a "thank you" as Kinade went over to kneel beside him.

"I thought you guys said you could handle him." Toma said to Silica and Ryner, an edge to his voice.

"We underestimated him." Ryner said simply still lying on the ground.

Silica picked up her sword and went over to Felicita to heal her with a healing crystal. A small, blue dragon was now perched on her shoulder. It seemed to shoot Silica with dust, raising her HP. A few floors below, they had found this dragon in a forest and Silica, finding it to be absolutely adorable even after it had bitten Ryner, decided to keep it as a pet, thus becoming a beast tamer.

"We're never going to get anywhere if you all keep 'underestimating' our opponents." Toma spat. "Kinade and I can't save your asses all the time."

Kinade stood up and glared at him. "Mind your attitude, Toma. The point of us training in dungeons is to get stronger so that one day we may be able to fight on the front lines. Now is not the time for criticism."

"You and I could be on the front lines right now if these weaklings weren't holding us back." Toma said with contempt in his voice.

"Then why don't you leave?" Ryner asked irritably. "You're beginning to really piss me off with your arrogant attitude, anyway." Not long after the Timber Wolves formed, Toma started to forcefully take charge, giving orders left and right.

Toma held his lance out, ready to attack. The weapon glowed green as the skill was activated. "Are you looking for a fight?" he asked coldly. Toma reached for his sword, but before he could grab it, Kinade stepped toward Toma, her sword pointed at him. Felicita then stood in front of Ryner protectively, Silica and Riku following her lead. The lance user looked slightly shocked.

"You should leave now, Toma." Riku said.

Toma looked at the rest of the guild, seeing if that was what they all wanted. "Fine," he finally said. "I was already thinking about leaving this crappy guild anyway." He began to walk away, then without turning around, he asked "Are you going to do the same, Kinade? We could really become stronger players if we left these losers behind."

Kinade answered coldly "You and I have different definitions of strength, Toma if you believe we can obtain it by leaving our friends behind."

"Tch. Then you're as weak as they are." He said before using a crystal to teleport.

"Bastard." Ryner said, still on the ground.

"What should we do know Kinade-san?" Riku asked.

Kinade thought for a few seconds. "We can do without him." She said finally. She looked around at her guild mates. "We rest for a few minutes then go back home." She announced. No one argued with her. After a little bit of silence, Kinade swiped her right hand in front of her and browsed her menu.

Felicita turned to Ryner. "Are you ok?" she asked tentatively, holding a hand out to help him up.

He took it and Felicita pulled him up. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks to your sister." He smiled. Felicita then noticed that she was still holding his hand. She quickly let go and turned away blushing.

"Yeah. She's a good fighter." Was all Felicita could bring herself to say, butterflies in her stomach. She didn't like the fact that this boy made her feel this way, but she couldn't help it. She liked him. She couldn't deny that she thought he was handsome; he had short, black hair, brown eyes that always seemed to shine with enthusiasm, and a tall, athletic build. He was always strong too; he worked hard and always seemed to lighten the guild's mood with a smart comment that made everyone laugh.

"She really is amazing though." Ryner said. Felicita turned around to look at him, his tone of voice catching her attention, it was full of admiration. He was watching Kinade, a slight smile on his face. Felicita's stomach dropped, she suddenly felt like crying. Of course. That's how it was. Ryner thought of her as nothing more than a friend. He liked her strong, beautiful, older sister instead. Felicita knew that that would never work out though, not with Kinade's mindset. Why couldn't she, Felicita, get something to make _her_ feel happy for once? Why did the universe hate her so much?

* * *

"That asshole took some of our items and col from our guild storage when he left." Ryner said angrily, looking through their guild's shared storage. They were now back at the inn on Floor 24, sitting in the common area together and discussing what they would do next.

"We can eventually make up for it." Kinade said, sitting on a sofa, her arms and legs crossed.

"Kinade-san, we got the majority of that from monster drops that you and Toma collected." Riku said.

"We can get better items and more col if we work hard enough. I know we can!" Silica said determinedly, her dragon, Pina, seemed to squawk in agreement.

Felicita sat next to her sister. She wasn't sure what to contribute to the conversation so she remained quiet, thinking. Kinade and Toma were their most powerful members, without the both of them, they were more vulnerable, Felicita especially, she was the lowest level player in the guild.

Kinade smiled at Silica. "You have the right attitude, Silica-chan."

"Yeah. We just need to train harder, then we will be kicking ass on the front lines in no time." Ryner said, throwing an arm around Silica's shoulders then drew his arm away when Pina flew up and almost bit his ear. "Why do you not like me?" he asked the dragon who hissed then settled comfortably on Silica's shoulder. That was one thing Felicita liked about Ryner; he always found a way to bounce quickly out of a bad mood and into his old self.

Kinade nodded thoughtfully. "Tomorrow, we can start by going a few floors down and training there. We have no choice with Toma gone, but we'll train enough to get back to where we were some day." She stood up. "Ok, guys, that's our game plan so far. Curfew tonight is in an hour. We'll wake up early tomorrow to get a good start on that training."

Felicita only stayed long enough to hear the end of that sentence before she walked outside and sat on the porch. The inn was on a hill, so she had a good view of a forest down below. She sat there for a moment, engrossed in her own thoughts. A lot of things were circling around in her head. One thing was Toma's words before he teleported. _We could really become stronger players if we left these losers behind._ Felicita couldn't help but think that she was the main person he was talking about. Over the past few months, she was the one that Toma had seemed to yell at the most. He would do that whenever she faltered during a fight, didn't dodge in time, or . . . really it was just whenever she did something wrong he had made her feel stupid. Felicita felt guilty, like she was the one who was holding everyone back from their potential because they had to protect her, the weakling.

The petite girl felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Ryner. He smiled at her. "Do you mind if I join you?" he asked in a cheery tone. Felicita shook her head and the boy sat down.

He was another thing on her mind that she was trying _not _to think about right now. He made everything confusing and complicated for her and she could not deal with him in addition to everything else. She liked him and he liked Kinade, a love that would never be returned in the way he wanted it to be. Felicita wanted to stop liking him as soon as possible before she became too torn up by her feelings.

"I really sucked today, didn't I?" Ryner suddenly said.

Felicita shook her head. "If anyone sucked it was me. I barely helped at all."

"You didn't get picked up like some ragdoll."

The girl smiled to herself. "You have a point there."

"I can't wait to get stronger. That way, one day, I can protect you guys."

"You shouldn't worry about me that much though, I'll just slow you down."

"Don't give me that!" Ryner said to her. "Don't let what Toma said get to you; it was a load of crap."

"But I am the lowest level player in our guild. I'm holding everyone back because they want to protect me."

"You're not weak. Each one of you girls has your own strength. Yours, Felicita, is that you always try your best when you do anything. Besides, we aren't just protecting you, we're protecting each other. We _are_ in a guild, it's what we do." Felicita could not help but feel a little elated. Ryner had told her that she had strength.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" The boy asked. Felicita nodded. "Well . . ." he blushed. "Does Kinade ever say anything about me?" Felicita's elation vanished.

"Why?" she asked, keeping a blank expression.

"I-I was just wondering if I had a chance if I asked her out on a date sometime."

"You really like her don't you."

"Am I that easy to see through?" He was blushing.

Felicita thought for a moment. Ryner was a good guy. He may be able to get Kinade to focus on her own happiness for once. Felicita then made a decision. She loved Kinade, yet she also liked Ryner. Their happiness meant a lot to her and she would do anything to make sure that they had it.

The girl smiled. "I can try and help you get together if you want."

Ryner looked surprised. "You'd really help me."

"Yeah you and my sister would be great for each other. Anyway, what are guild mates for right?"

The boy got up and bowed. "Thank you." He said.

Felicita waved her hands in front of her. "No really. It's ok."

Ryner looked really happy now. "Well, we should probably go in before Kinade throws a chair at us again." He said, offering a hand to Felicita to help her up.

She took it with a smile. "That's a good idea." She followed him inside, smiling, even though her heart was breaking.

**A/N: What did you guys think? Please leave reviews so I know that people actually read and/or have any opinions on my story!**


	4. Chapter 4: Duel in the Jungle

Chapter Four: Duel in the Jungle

**A/N: Yes! Consecutive day updates. *pumps fist into the air* I am so proud of myself. Thank you for favoriting and following my story if you did. If you did not then I will hunt you down and kill you, or maybe just force you to press the follow button. JK! No seriously, you should follow my story; you would make me so happy if you did. **_**Anyway, **_**here's my next chapter. Please read and enjoy!**

2023/07/18

The dungeon on Floor 24 was creepy. At least that's what Felicita thought as she Ryner and Riku walked through it together. It was basically just a dark jungle inside of a cave. Streams crisscrossed the floor, a gentle glow coming from them. It was very dark away from them though, and creatures could be heard lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right chance to attack their prey.

"How much longer until we can go home?" Felicitaasked, her hands behind her head and an impatient tone to her voice.

"Our goal today was to at least reach 5,000 col." Ryner answered, walking next to her and looking at his map. "We're only half way there."

Felicita groaned. Riku looked at her and laughed. "You're the one that set that goal, Fel-chan."

"I got carried away. Kinade-nee was teasing me again." Felicita answered, then glanced at Ryner. "Speaking of my Onee-chan, how was your date yesterday?" the girl asked with a smirk.

Ryner's eyes darted to the side; he was determined not to look at her. "We both know it was not a date."

"But you spent time alone together didn't you." Riku asked, joining in on Felicita's teasing.

"All we did was go to the market and do some house shopping." He said, blushing. The guild almost had enough col to buy a house that they liked a few floors above them.

"You still had to spend the night away from the guild." Felicita said, still smirking. "Come on. You had to have made _some_ kind of move on her. I set that up perfectly for you. Kinade-nee would have asked me to go but I told her I had promised Silica I was going to go into town with her."

"Well . . . we _did_ eat dinner out together."

"And . . .?" Felicita asked him, wanting him to go on.

"We had a conversation. It was fun, but I still don't know how she feels about me." Ryner said, his spirits seeming to lower.

Felicita punched him on the arm. He grunted in pain and Felicita said. "Don't worry, Ryner-kun. Things will work out somehow." Felicita pulled up her menu and looked at the time. It was about noon. "Let's stop for lunch." She said as she went over and sat down on a rock by a stream.

Felicita had been working with Ryner to help him to hit it off with her sister for the past few months. Riku and Silica were in on it too, but it was proving to be very difficult. Felicita still liked Ryner, but she tried not to think about her feelings, they would just make her sad.

"Why must you be so violent?" Ryner asked, sitting on a nearby rock. "You're just like your sister when we miss curfew or do something reckless, only you're like that all the time. I never would have thought that you were like this when I first met you."

"I only show my true colors to people in know." Felicita said with a smirk. "Now that I know I can really trust you guys, I let you guys see me for who I am."

Ryner raised his hand like a little kid would in pre-school. "Can I go back to not knowing you then?"

Felicita took out the lunch she packed and threw one at Ryner's head. He hadn't expected that, so it hit his face and he fell backwards and off of his rock. "Just shut up and eat, baka!" She yelled.

Ryner muttered to himself as he got back onto his rock. " . . . Violent, flat-chested . . ." Unfortunately for him Felicita heard him.

"What was that? I didn't quite catch what you said." she asked with a creepy smile on her face, a dark aura seemed to surround her.

"N-Nothing!" Ryner stuttered, quickly opening his lunch and eating the food inside. Riku chuckled as Felicita handed her a lunch as well.

Felicita opened her lunch. They all had the same thing: a sandwich and a container of water. The petite girl took a bite. "This is really good Riku." Felicita complimented, smiling at her friend.

"Thanks. I'm glad that you like it." Riku said as she returned the smile. "Cooking was something I couldn't do in the real world so I'm glad I could do it here." The girl looked down at her sandwich. "I don't think they're that good though."

"Yeah they are." Felicita reassured her. "You could make a lot of col if you sold them."

"No, don't sell them!" Ryner piped in.

"Why not?" Felicita asked, glaring at him.

"There will be less for me if you do."

Felicita picked up a small rock and threw it at him. It hit him on the head and he almost fell again. "Pig." Felicita said simply.

Ryner rubbed his head where the rock struck. "There would be less for you too you know. If you ate more maybe you would grow in certain areas."

Felicita stood up abruptly, blushing slightly. "You are really asking for a punch in the face right now!"

"If I were really asking for it I would call you a short, flat-chested bitch now wouldn't I?" said the smirking boy. This was basically how their bickering played out nowadays.

"Get over here and say that to my face you self-absorbed bastard!" Felicita said, definitely feeling murderous. The best Riku could do was hold her back. "Get over here so I can kick your ass and mop the floor with your face!"

"I don't think you should do that. You won't be able to get into the corners."

"That's it! You're so dead!" Felicita pulled out her sword. Riku couldn't really hold her back anymore. They slowly made their way to Ryner who was laughing on the ground. Felicita was about to stab him when there was a sudden scream.

The three of them went still. They didn't move. That scream sounded like a child. Riku let go of Felicita and pulled out her mace. "Let's go." she said. The other two nodded. Ryner pulled out his sword and they all ran toward where the sound came from.

* * *

The three members of the Timber Wolves had run through many trees and vines, until they came across a small clearing. In the clearing there was a group of four people. Three of them were standing and one was laying on the ground, curled into their body. Felicita immediately thought that they were being attacked by a monster. "Don't panic! We're here to help!" she yelled at them as she Ryner and Riku sprinted their way to them. Then Felicita noticed that something was wrong. She didn't see any monster anywhere, she only saw the group of four, and all of them seemed to be guys.

Then her heart dropped and she gasped. The three standing were kicking the one on the ground. Felicita yelled angrily and ran ahead of Ryner and Riku. She kicked the first guy she came to and he fell back several feet. Then she slashed her sword at the next one. He barely blocked and ended up being knocked away. Ryner then came up from behind her and punched the last guy in the face, sending him into the one that had blocked Felicita's sword. He and Riku came and stood in front of the boy protectively.

Felicita knelt down next to the boy who was curled on the ground. He was small and his arms and legs looked fragile. He had messy sand colored hair and his eyes were shut tight. She looked at his health bar. It was in the red. The girl quickly got out a healing crystal and used it on him. As his health returned to green, his breathing eased and he relaxed. He opened his eyes and looked up at the girl by his side. His eyes were a light gray-ish color.

Felicita was relieved. "It's ok now. We won't let them hurt you anymore." She said with a warm smile. The boy looked at her, tears in his eyes. Felicita squeezed his hand, then stood up, her sword poised to strike.

The boy she kicked walked closer to their group. "Hey, this is none of your business. I suggest you leave now before things get ugly."

"You were beating up an innocent boy." Ryner shot back coldly. "I think that we can get in your business. Why would you do this to him? As fellow players of SAO, we need to help each other out, not massacre one another."

The other boy laughed. He seemed to be the leader of the thugs. "There's no proof that people actually die, now is there? We can't _see_ what happens in the real world. That Akihiko Kayaba guy could have been lying when he appeared on the day of the opening ceremony."

Felicita thought back to that day. It's true that the images Kayaba had shown them could have been fabricated. Even so, why would you not take the threat of death in reality seriously?

"That doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!" Felicita yelled. "We don't know if Kayaba was lying or telling the truth. Because of that we can't take any chances."

"It's just a game you little bitch. No need to get riled up." Felicita was really starting to hate this guy.

"Then were you just hurting this boy for fun?" Ryner asked.

"The reason we have for doing what we were doing is none of your concern. Just give him back and get out of here before we decide to do the same to you."

"Not after what you've done to him already. You'll have to get through us first." Ryner said, his eyes cold and steady.

The other guys smirked. "Fine, since I am feeling generous today," the leader said. "Just give us your mace user and we will let you take the kid and get out of here."

Ryner stepped in front of Riku. "What do you want with her?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious? It's why I didn't ask you to give me that other girl. She doesn't look like she has hit puberty yet."

"Who are you calling a short, flat-chested girl who wouldn't look good in a swimsuit?" Felicita yelled.

Ryner tried not to laugh. He couldn't help it. "No one said that, Fel."

"You perverted bastards were thinking it!" she stepped in front of Ryner. "Ok, assholes, I have a proposition for you. One of us from each team will duel. If we win, you let all of us go, including the kid. If you win you can do whatever you want."

The leader smiled. "You have a deal, pipsqueak."

Felicita turned to Ryner and Riku. "Please let me duel." She pleaded.

"Are you sure?" Ryner asked, concerned.

"Yes. He pissed me off more than you do." Felicita was angry. She wanted to get revenge for the boy and the insults that she and her friends had been thrown. She was scared though, she couldn't deny that, but she was determined at the same time.

Ryner saw this, and smiled. "Ok, I'll let you. I know you won't let us down." Felicita nodded, then turned to Riku. Riku looked her in the eyes, then nodded. Felicita then looked at the boy on the ground. She smiled at him, then walked toward the three jerks.

"So, you send yourself to get your ass kicked, huh?" The leader said, meeting Felicita between their two groups.

Felicita sent him a duel invitation. "You shouldn't cuss so much. Your soul is already black enough." He just chuckled, amused and accepted, making their duel a timed battle.

The countdown began. Felicita held her sword up while her opponent equipped a sword and shield. She really found it insulting that he did not take a ready stance.

They had a staring contest; Felicita stared with hatred while her opponent stared with nonchalant amusement. All Felicita thought about was her desire to defeat him.

The countdown ended, they had about one minute and thirty seconds. Felicita charged him wanting to stab him right in the stomach. The only thing he did was move his shield to block her. She hit the shield several times because he kept blocking. Then he hit her with his it, stunning her and he slashed her across the chest and she fell back. He tried to kick her but she rolled, only to be cut again on the arm by his sword.

Felicita felt really scared. Was this how she was going to die? He was so strong, how was she going to defeat him. The girl froze for a second. She was kicked and she screamed.

"Felicita!" Ryner and Riku were calling her name. They were depending on her. She had practically bet their lives away and she had to pull them out.

Through her fear. Felicita got up. About thirty seconds were left. The jerk was about to say a retort but Felicita charged him again, faster than before. He barely had time to block. All Felicita thought about was stiking faster, harder to smack that smirk off his face and grind his pride into dust on the floor. She was able to knock his shield out of his hand, he looked surprised. The petite girl then began to cut him every which way she could. He tried to block and counterattack with his sword, but the most he could do was scratch her cheek. Then as three seconds were left, Felicita kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back into his goons. The duel ended, Felicita's health was on the edge between yellow and green while her opponent's had begun to turn red. Felicita had won.

Ryner and Riku cheered, Felicita sagged in relief. "Damn you!" Felicita looked back at the thugs. They were rushing her, weapons drawn. It was too late to defend herself and her friends were too far away to save her. The girl closed her eyes. She was going to die.

There was a strangled cry of pain. Felicita opened her eyes in confusion. Another boy was now standing in front of her. He had black hair that hung around his intense, gray eyes. He wore a long black coat, a crescent moon on the chest and he had a one-handed long sword strapped to his back.

He glared at the two he had knocked aside. "You know, it's not very cool to be sore losers. You should accept that you were defeated and learn from it."

"Who the hell are you?" One of the boys on the floor asked.

"Just a solo player passing through." He drew his sword, and held it at his side. "You should leave now, before I decide to teach you a little something about good sportsmanship."

"Like you could beat us." One of the guys said as he rushed the strange newcomer. He barely reached his target before the swordsman in black knocked his sword away and tripped him.

He stood there coolly. "You're just wasting your time." He said as he sidestepped the next guy and kicked him in the side, sending him sprawling.

Everyone stared at this strange person. Who was he? Felicita could not help but think that she had seen him before.

Then a loud grinding noise filled the air. Felicita looked to where it was coming from. It was a giant, stone cobra. It slithered through the trees and stopped near them hissing. Then more came, gathering around them.

"Crap." Felicita heard the swordsman whisper. He turned around and grabbed her hand. "Run!" he yelled, pulling her towards her guild mates. As they passed them, Ryner and Riku followed and Felicita grabbed the boy on the ground by the hand and pulled him along with them. They ran into the forest, snakes following close behind them.

**A/N: There it was, my 4****th**** chapter. What's going to happen next? Why were they beating up a little kid? Who is this mysterious swordsman? Ok, actually, that last question is not that hard to answer. Everyone should know who he is. Not to worry my darlings, I will answer these questions next update. Please review when you are done. However, I will not force you to . . . probably. **


	5. Chapter 5: New Friends, New Connections

Chapter Five: New Friends, New Connections

** A/N: Ugh! It is so late. Why am I staying up this late to finish this update for you people?! Oh right, you're my "beloved" readers. Well anyway since I so **_**obviously **_**love you people, here is my next chapter. Enjoy it or die! (Just kidding. I love you guys. But seriously enjoy this chapter. I worked hard on it.)**

2023/07/18

Everything was dark. _What just happened? What was I doing again?_ Felicita had no idea what was going on. For a second, she couldn't remember anything; all she felt was the cold, hard ground under her body. No, wait, that wasn't all. Her head and her hand were resting on something warm and soft. It was comforting. She wanted to lay there forever, she didn't feel like getting up . . . but she felt like she had to. It was important.

The girl lifted her throbbing head and opened her eyes. The light was very dim so she could barely focus. When she finally did, she found that she was face to face with Ryner. She blushed and made a small squeaking sound as she quickly scooted away from him, though she immediately began to regret that as she was hit with a dizzy spell. Felicita leaned against the wall until it passed, then she looked at Ryner again. She had been lying on his chest.

That thought made her blush again. What was she going to say to him? Then she saw him stir and groan in pain. _Good, he had been passed out._

"Is everyone ok?" Felicita looked around and saw a swordsman dressed all in black stand up, brushing himself off. He had been the one who spoke.

"I'm alive." Felicita heard a girl's soft voice. She was pretty sure it was Riku . . . or was it? Felicita had a hard time focusing.

"I'm still kicking." Ryner groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm ok." It was another small voice, one that Felicita had never heard before. Who could it be? She wasn't able to see anyone else because the rubble was everywhere. Wait, rubble?

Felicita looked around, then behind her and up. There was a large pile of rocks that went from floor to ceiling. She looked around. It didn't look like there was a way out.

Ryner looked over at Felicita as he stood up. "Fel's here too." He said as he looked around at the room they were in. "This looks like a mess."

"What happened?" Felicita asked without really thinking about it. She was just curious.

"How do you not remember? You really are scattered brained aren't you?" Ryner asked with a slight smirk. Before Felicita could say anything he continued. "We were chased by the cobras, remember? They chased us through the jungle and all of them ended upbringing down the cave ceiling."

Felicita nodded, but she wasn't sure if she could really remember. Her memory was a little hazy.

"Sorry. Getting chased was partly my fault." said the swordsman, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was fighting them until I heard that scream, then I tried to shake them and see what was going on. Guess they found me."

"You were fighting all of those? There were like twenty of them." Ryner said disbelievingly. "What level are you anyway?"

The swordsman seemed to fidget. "Uh . . ." was all he said.

"Ryner-san, he doesn't have to tell us if he doesn't want to." Riku said, then she turned to the swordsman and bowed. "We are really thankful though," she said to him. "You saved our friend."

"It was no big deal," he said quickly in return as he shook his hands in front of him. "Anyone would have done it. I just happened to be there." Then he looked around him, thinking. "Can someone try a teleport crystal to see if we can get out that way?"

Riku took hers out. "I can try." She held up the blue crystal and tried to use it. It didn't work.

"Does this mean we're stuck in here?" Ryner asked a little panicked.

Felicita looked at the boy in black for his answer. "No. It just means that there should be another way out." The petite girl couldn't help looking at him, not sure that if she really saw what she just thought she did. In his eyes just now . . . had she seen . . . fear? If there had been any, it had quickly vanished. Felicita decided not to dwell on it for too long, her head was really starting to hurt.

"We should start shifting rocks to see if we can find a tunnel." The swordsman said, leaning over and moving rocks around.

Ryner started to walk over to the others to help. Then he turned to Felicita. "Would you like me to bring you a cold drink while you wait, Your Highness?" he asked with a smirk.

"Shut up." The girl said as she quickly stood up. She had almost taken two steps forward when she suddenly felt light headed. Black dots began to fill her vision and, before she knew it, she was pitching forward into darkness.

* * *

Felicita could hear voices, but they sounded distant and she couldn't make out anything. She tried to focus. Those voices sounded familiar. She felt like she should know them. She waited what seemed like an eternity for them to become discernable, but then, she heard a voice, that she thought she would never hear again, say words that seemed to stab her in the heart.

"It's all your fault."

The girl jerked awake . . . and almost fell off of the black swordsman's back.

"Whoa, easy. You're ok now." He said to her.

She looked around. They were walking along a dark tunnel. She saw Ryner in front of them, carrying a lantern. He looked as nonchalant as ever, but Felicita could tell that he was worried about her; he just didn't want to admit it. Next to him was a girl who was slightly shorter than Ryner. She had black hair that went to her shoulders and a mace at her side. She was talking to Ryner , it was Riku. Then, Felicita noticed the small boy following slightly behind her and the swordsman. When he saw that she was awake, he gave a small smile and waved. Felicita smiled back, then layed her head back down on the swordsman's back, she felt tired.

"What . . .?" She began to ask, her voice a small rasp.

"You fainted and I caught you," the boy in black began in a quiet tone. "Then we found a small tunnel and took it. That was half an hour ago. How are you feeling?" he asked concerned.

"Tired . . . and sore." She groaned.

"Don't worry. That's normal. You were bitten by one of the cobras and their venom got into your system. It works differently from other poisons but I was able to use an antidote crystal to get rid of it. You should feel fine in a minute."

"Hm." She grunted. It was quiet between them for a while. In the meantime, Felicita tried to remember what had happened. Her mind refused to let her think, it just made her stare to the side, her mind blank. Then she remembered that she forgot to do something.

"I never learned your name." She stated, speaking to the swordsman. "What is it?"

He hesitated for a few seconds before he answered her. "Kirito." He said. "And I hear from your friends that you're Felicita."

"Yeah. That's me. I would shake your hand or something but I feel like I might fall."

Kirito laughed once. "We wouldn't want that."

"Well, anyway, Kirito-san, thank you for helping us. Me especially, I probably would have died if not for you."

He glanced back at her. "Well, I think you were handling yourself pretty well before I stepped in."

_What is he talking about?_ Then she remembered her fight. "Oh, yeah, the duel. That wasn't that big of a deal."

"I have to disagree. You rocked." He said coolly.

". . . Thanks." She said after a while. Then they were silent again. Felicita felt a little awkward, so she kept her mind occupied by just watching her two guild mates. They seemed to be talking freely, but she saw the slight signs that they were anxious. Ryner was so distracted that he tripped on a rock and almost fell over.

"Smooth, Ryner." Felicita said with a small smirk. Her voice was very soft, but it was loud enough for him to hear.

Ryner looked back at her. "Since when did you wake up?" He asked trying to sound annoyed, but she could tell that he was relieved. Riku looked back in surprise too. "You know what? I don't care." Ryner continued, turning around. "Screw you, Fel."

"No thanks. I don't want AIDS." Felicita said back.

Ryner spun around and glared over Kirito's shoulder at her. "I do not have AIDS!"

"Can't prove that now can you?" Felicita said, still smirking.

"Ok, for one, we are in a virtual world. You can't spread those kinds of disease here!"

"Knowing you, you'd find a way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, his voice becoming louder.

"I'm just saying you're the only one stupid enough that would find _some_ way to screw things up."

Ryner was about to say something back when Riku cut in. "Guys you need to stop!" She said. This time she was the one that tried to sound annoyed, but Felicita could see her lips twitch.

"Whatever." Ryner said as he turned around again and continued walking. Everyone else followed his example.

Felicita rested her head on Kirito's back again. It took her a moment to notice that something was a little different. She looked at the back of the swordsman's head. She was surprised as she realized that he was laughing to himself.

Silence followed for a while. Felicita was happy to find that her mind was clearing up. She was finally able to remember what had happened earlier. Suddenly, the lamp that Ryner was holding went out. She looked over Kirito's shoulder and saw that the end of the tunnel was in sight, a dim light was shining through it, lighting up the cave.

Felicita straightened, she was excited. They had found the way out.

Kirito glanced back at her briefly. That's when she became very aware that he had basically been giving her a piggy-back ride for the past hour.

Color rushed to her cheeks. "I-I think I can stand now." She said to him.

"Ok, but be careful." He warned, then he bent down to let her off. When her feet touched the ground, she gingerly got off and tried to stand on her own. She succeeded for about two seconds before she started to lean slightly to the side. Kirito steadied her by putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks." The petite girl said to him. He nodded and he slowly removed his hand and she began to walk on her own. He stayed close by to make sure she was ok, but she didn't need any help after that. She felt better.

Once they were outside, Ryner walked slightly ahead stretched his arms out, basking in the, what was now, moonlight. He swiped his right hand down and looked at the time. "It's almost midnight." He said, "Kinade is definitely going to kill us." He cringed at the thought.

Felicita groaned. She was not looking forward to her sister's scolding when they got back. Then she noticed that Kirito had disappeared. "Kirito?" she asked, looking around for him. The others looked at her, then began looking for the boy in black themselves. He reappeared as he walked through the surrounding trees.

Everyone looked at him questioningly. "I wanted to make sure no one would over hear us. There's something I was waiting to clear up until Felicita-san woke up." Kirito turned toward the small boy that had been quiet the whole time they had been walking through the tunnel. "What's your name?" Kirito asked gently as he knelt in front of him.

The boy shuffled his feet slightly, then he answered. "Seiji."

"Well, Seiji, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Seiji shook his head and Kirito continued. "Can you tell us who those guys were that were hurting you?"

Seiji looked down at his feet. "I was in a guild with them."

Everyone was surprised. Ryner then spoke. "Why did you join a guild with them?"

The boy sniffled, he had begun to cry. "They-they said they could pr-protect me. They s-said they would do it if I j-just did wh-what they told me to." Tears began to stream down his cheeks. Felicita felt so sad and sorry for him. She went around Kirito and gave Seiji a hug. He hugged her back and he cried into her shoulder. The girl knew exactly how he felt. She always felt that way: scared and helpless. But Felicita had had friends to comfort her when she felt that way. This boy had had none.

After the small boy had calmed down a little, Kirito asked, still gently "If they were in a guild with you, why would they want to hurt you?"

Seiji looked up at him. "I wanted to quit the guild. I didn't like the things they did. They were mean, they _hurt_ people. When I told them that I wanted to quit they-." The boy faltered.

Kirito put a hand on the small boy's head. "It's ok now, they're gone. They won't hurt you anymore." Seiji wiped his tears away and nodded. Felicita looked at him. The poor boy. Where would he go now? Then an idea that made her excited popped into her head.

"Hey!" She said suddenly, startling everyone. "Now that you don't have a guild anymore, why don't you join ours?"

The small boy looked at her. "Really?" he asked disbelievingly. "You-you'd let me join you r guild?"

Felicita nodded. Then she turned to the boy in black. "You too, Kirito."

"What?" he asked startled.

"Yes!" Felicita said, standing up. "I think that it would be great if we all stayed together from now on."

She looked at both of them expectantly. Riku walked up beside them. "I think that's a great idea. We would love to have you join us!" she said, beaming.

"Hm." Ryner hummed as if he were thinking. "I don't know. I was kinda liking the harem setting that we have right now."

Felicita punched him in the arm. "Don't be such a pervert." She said to him, annoyed.

"I was kidding." Ryner said as he rubbed the spot she had hit. "I will actually be relieved. I have no male friends thanks to you girls. It would be nice to talk to my own species for once."

Felicita "hmphed" in response to his answer. Then she turned to the boys that she had invited into their guild.

Kirito looked surprised and happy. He looked as if he were about to accept. But then, a shadow seemed to pass over his face. He looked down and to the side, his hair covering his eyes. "I shouldn't. I work better solo." He said. Then he looked at Seiji. "But you should join them, kid. A guild_ is_ good for protection; you just need to find the right one." He looked at Felicita, Ryner, and Riku with a small smile.

Felicita wanted to know what had just crossed Kirito's mind. She looked at him and they looked each other in the eye for a moment. Then he looked away. She decided not to press him; he probably had his own reasons. So she looked back at Seiji. "So, Seiji, what do you say? Do you want to join the Timber Wolves?"

He looked at her for a few moments before he grinned widely. "Yeah!" he said excitedly.

Kirito shook everyone's hands. Lastly, he shook Ryner's. "I'm sorry that you couldn't join our guild." Ryner was saying. "It would have been nice if you had joined."

"Yeah." Kirito said, a little awkwardly. "No offense to you guys, but I prefer to work on my own."

Ryner smiled. "Well good luck to you." He said.

Kirito smiled. "Same to you." He said. Then he walked a little ways away and waved before turning to leave. That's when Felicita remembered another lone boy who had walked away from everyone, alone. _A beater . . . that's a good name._

Felicita was shocked. How had she not known before?

"Hey, Kirito!" she yelled running after him. "Wait just a second!" Kirito stopped just before he disappeared into the trees and turned to wait for her.

She caught up to him and looked him in the eyes. "I thought I had recognized you before." She said, not loud enough for the others to hear. "Now I remember. I was at the Floor One boss raid. My whole guild was there. You were that beater guy weren't you?" she asked, keeping her expression straight.

Kirito didn't waiver as he looked back into her almond eyes. "Yeah. What about it?" he asked, his tone flat, his now cold gaze trained on her.

She leaned toward him slightly, still staring into his gray eyes. His eyes shifted, but for the most part, he looked her in the eyes as well, waiting.

They were like that for a moment. Suddenly, Felicita smiled. "Somehow, I never believed what you said that day, about being a beater."

Kirito's eyes widened. "Uh. Wh-what makes you say that?" he asked avoiding her gaze.

Felicita's smile turned into a smirk. "It just doesn't suit you."

"Well then why would I say something like that?" he challenged.

"To rally everyone." She said simply. "I remember how they were all reacting after what that guy said about beta-testers. They were all suspicious of each other. They were ready to _kill_ each other. But _you_ made yourself seem like the bad guy. You gave them something to have in common: their hatred towards you. You even casually insulted the supposed superior beta-testers and made normal players seem better than them."

Kirito still refused to look her in the eyes. "Just admit that I'm right already." Felicita said, still smirking.

The swordsman glanced at her once, then looked away again. "You can believe whatever you want to." He said.

Felictia laughed a little. She looked over at her now three guild mates. They seemed to be in deep conversation, not paying attention to her and Kirito. That was good, Felicita did not want them to see what she was about to do and take it the wrong way.

Felicita quickly leaned forward and kissed Kirito's cheek. He jumped back slightly. "What-!" he began, surprised, his hand automatically going up to his cheek. Both he and Felicita were blushing.

"Don't take it the wrong way." She said, looking at the ground. "I don't think of you in a romantic way or anything. I just want you to know that, even though everyone hates you for being a beater, at least one person doesn't." he just stared at her blankly. "Me." She clarified. He still continued to stare. "If you don't believe me about the romantic thing, I'll tell you who I _do _like." The girl said. She was nervous, she had never told anyone about her feelings for Ryner before, but she wanted it to be clear to Kirito that she did not "like-like" him.

Felicita glanced over in the others' direction. Kirito looked. Then he had a look on his face that said he understood. "Oh, Riku-san." He said.

Felicita almost agreed, then stopped herself when she realized the name that had come out of Kirito's mouth. "No!" she said, embarrassed, her face red. She kicked him in the shin.

Kirito reacted with an "Ow!" and he held his leg, hopping on one foot. "I was kidding!" he said, trying to keep his voice down. "I know you meant Ryner-san."

"Then why would you say that?!" Riku asked, her face still red.

Kirito chuckled. "Just messin' with you." He said as he put his leg down. Then, his hand came to rest on her head. "Well, good luck." Felicita nodded, despite that fact that she knew it was pointless for her to try anymore.

"I hope we meet again, Kirito-san." Felicita said.

Kirito smiled. "Me too." He said, before walking away and disappearing into the trees.

* * *

"I really think we shoud go now." Ryner said as Felicita joined her guild mates again. "Kinade might actually be mad enough by now to throw a whole kitchen at us."

As if on cue, Felicita received a message from her sister. She opened it. It had a panicked tone; Kinade was asking if she and the others were all right. She and Silica were looking for them.

Feicita sighed. "We should probably start heading back now."

A depressed aura seemed to fall upon everyone except Seiji, who just looked at them confusedly. The four began to make their way to the inn where they were staying at, mentally preparing themselves for the verbal (and most likely physical that went along with it) abuse that they were about to suffer.

* * *

Ryner's theory about having a kitchen thrown at them was not far off. As the four approached the hill that the inn was on, a frying pan was thrown at them from out of nowhere. Felicita saw it coming and ducked. Unfortunately for Ryner, he was the next one in the line of fire and the pan hit him instead. He fell backwards just as Kinade and Silica came rushing up to them. Silica looked like she had been crying and Kinade looked like she was on the verge of doing so herself.

"You idiots!" she screamed at them. This time she pulled some silverware out of her sleeves and threw it at them. Kinade then reminded Felicita of a certain demon she knew about and was sad that now was not a good time to make a reference about him.

Felicita continued to walk up to her sister as she kept screaming. "You were gone for so long! You weren't showing up on the map! We got worried when you didn't send us any messages! We thought you had died!"

A fork stuck itself into Felicita's arm. She winced and then pulled it out, letting it drop to the ground. The sisters stared at each other for a moment before Kinade burst into tears and threw herself onto her sister. "I thought you were dead." The eldest sister said quietly between sobs.

"Sorry, Onee-chan. We'll explain everything."

"You better." Kinade said, regaining some of her stoic composure. Then she noticed the small boy hiding behid Riku. "Who's this?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

Felicita smiled. "We found a new Timber Wolf."

**A/N: That was a long chapter. So, did anyone catch my reference to another anime? Here's a hint: badass, silverware throwing demon. I wonder who that could be. ***_**coughSebastiancoughMichaelis**_*** Ahem. Allergies. If you did not understand my reference please go and fulfill your pathetic life by looking up a thing called "Black Butler." Anyway, please leave reviews! I want to know what you guys think so far. How are my characters? How was my Kirito portrayal (this question is very important to me)? How are my little humor bits (also important)? (You know what all of those were important to me so just answer them.) Again I am not forcing you to answer them but I would appreciate it if you would. I should probably stop talking now. Actually I would also like to know if I am the only person that reads author's notes. I feel that it is a courtesy to read everything that the author took their precious time to write. Well I hope you will continue to read my story! Remember, I love you all (by the way, I still love you even if you don't know what Black Butler is)!**


	6. Chapter 6: A Well Deserved Vacation

Chapter 6: A Well Deserved Vacation

**A/N: Ok, here is my next chapter. It's kind of just a filler chapter (I don't want to rush the plot anyway), but I still hope you all enjoy it.**

2023/09/25

Felicita bolted upright in bed. She was breathing hard and she suddenly felt like she was scared. _Was it a bad dream?_ She tried to calm down. She took deep breaths as she slowly looked around the room, suddenly feeling wary. That's when she noticed her door slightly creak open. Her body froze as she stared at it, eyes scanning the room. _Was someone in here with her?_

As the girl turned onto her side to turn her bedside lamp on, she came face to face with two, wide, gray eyes. She squeaked and pulled away . . . only to fall off of the other side of her bed. She landed with her back hitting first. Then her head whipped back and hit the wooden floor. She grunted in pain and curled into herself, holding her head with both hands, her eyes shut tight.

"Are you ok?" a small voice asked. Felicita opened her eyes slightly. Seiji was now looking at her worriedly from on her bed, supporting himself on his hands and knees.

The petite girl relaxed her body. "Yeah . . . but don't scare me like that again, ok?" she said, getting up. The boy smiled sheepishly. Then she asked "What are you doing here, kid?"

The boy sat on the bed and hugged his knees to his chest. "I can't sleep." He said.

Felicita looked at him for a moment. Then she smiled and said. "You can stay here for a while I guess."

Seiji smiled at her brightly. Then she gestured for him to get under the covers on the other side of the bed while she got under the covers on the side closest to her.

"So, why can't you sleep?" the girl asked her friend after they had settled.

"I don't know." He said quietly, shrugging.

"Is it your new room?" Felicita asked. The Timber Wolves had finally gotten enough col to buy their own house on Floor 30 and had moved in a few days ago.

Seiji looked her in the eyes, then looked away. "Maybe." he said.

"It's different. You just need time to get used to it." Felicita reassured him. The boy nodded. He looked troubled, so Felicta continued to talk. "You are settling in, right? I don't just mean in your room but into the guild too."

"Yeah." The boy said, a smile returning to his face. "I love being in a guild with you guys. We're like a big family!" Felicita laughed at that and agreed with him. After about an hour of conversation, their responses came more sluggishly and eventually, both of them fell asleep, facing each other.

* * *

"A vacation?" Felicita asked in surprise. The sun had risen and everyone was in the common area of their house, either helping make breakfast in the kitchen or waiting in the dining room for it to be served.

"Yes!" Ryner was saying. He was sitting a few seats away from her, a serious look on his face. "We've been working hard for the past few months now and I think that we need to relax at least for a few days. We deserve it."

"Hm." Felicita hummed, thinking. Personally, she wouldn't mind a vacation. It would be nice to just relax for a while. She smiled mischievously. "Are you really doing this for the guild or are you doing this just so you can spend some of the time with Kinade-nee?"

Ryner's face colored. "No." he denied, looking away from her.

"Ooo." Seiji said, looking at Ryner. "You _like_ her." He was sitting next to Felicita, his legs swinging back and forth as he was too short for his feet to touch the ground when he sat.

Ryner stood up, pushing his chair back and putting his palms on the table. "Stop hanging around Fel so much!" he said, his face turning redder. Then he turned to the girl in question. "And stop rubbing off on him. It's damn annoying!"

"I can't help that I'm more likeable than you." She said smugly. Seiji giggled at that statement.

Ryner was about to retort when a wooden spoon hit him on the back of the head. "Ow!" he said loudly, looking behind him to see his attacker. Of course it was Kinade.

"Come on you two, it's early in the morning! At least wait until after breakfast to start bickering," Kinade said, bringing a pot to the table. Silica and Riku followed her carrying more dishes.

"Onee-chan," Felicita began. "Have you heard about this vacation idea?"

Silica's head perked up at this and she asked excitedly "We're going on vacation?"

Kinade smiled. "Well yes. Ryner proposed it to me last night. I think it's a great idea."

"Yay!" Silica cheered and hugged Riku. Riku laughed and Pina flew around them, squawking.

Felicita continued to look at her sister. "Do we really have enough col to go on vacation now? We just bought a house."

"We have some left over." Kinade said with a smirk. "Now come on guys," she said to the group. "We're leaving today. Hurry up and finish your breakfast so you can pack."

* * *

Felicita was lying under a tree, her hands behind her head and her ankles crossed. She and her guild mates were on Floor 22 and were staying at an inn. This floor was a quiet, peaceful place. There was a peaceful forest dotted with lakes around the small town they were staying in. They had only been there for about a day and were already thoroughly enjoying themselves.

She was watching the others. They were all playing like children in the lake nearby. She watched as Riku and Silica chased Ryner, splashing water on him as he ran away, a laughing Seiji was riding on his shoulders.

Felicita smiled. She was really happy for Seiji. He had been so quiet and reserved when he had first joined the Timber Wolves. But little by little he had opened up to them and everyone couldn't help but like him. Now he smiled and laughed more with the rest of them.

Kinade walked up to her sister and sat in the grass beside her.

"Had enough fun?" Felicita asked.

"Just taking a break." The older one said calmly. "What about you?" She asked as she turned to her sister. "You haven't been doing much today."

Felicita looked up at the leaves overhead. "We've been doing a lot lately. I kinda just wanted to enjoy the nice day."

"Hm." Kinade answered, watching the others. Now Seiji had hopped off of Ryner and into the water as Riku and Silica continued to splash Ryner, who had fallen down. Pina was flying overhead of them.

"Hey, Fel-chan?" Kinade said.

Felicita had her eyes closed, but she replied. "Yeah?"

Kinade tucked her knees up under her chin. "Do you ever . . . wonder about Kyou-san?"

Felicita opened her eyes and turned her head to look at her sister. "Of course."

"What do you think she's doing right now? She doesn't have us to take care of and the house must be pretty empty. Do you think she's doing alright?"

Felicita thought about it for a moment. "Kyou-san's very strong and independent, Kinade-nee. I bet she's fine. She's probably still going to work, but I'm sure that she's waiting for us to come home too."

"Hm." Kinade hummed again and nodded. After a while she asked "Do you feel guilty?"

Felicita was surprised. "About what?"

"Well, we left Kyou-san alone after everything she's done for us and recently, I've started to think about her less."

"I do feel a little guilty." Felicita admitted. Now that she thought about it, there were days when she didn't think about the real world at all, much less their cousin, Kyou. Kyou was the closest thing that they had to family in the real world and Felicita was failing to think about her. "I don't think about her some days." Felicita continued. "But we can't blame ourselves for leaving her. How were we supposed to know that a sociopath would lock us in a game?" Felicita was starting to feel a little uneasy. Usually she was the one who went to Kinade to talk, not the other way around. "What's with all these thoughts Onee-chan?"

Kinade was silent for a moment. Then she said "I just realized that her birthday was last week."

Felicita's heart sunk. "Oh." She had completely forgotten. It wasn't like they could have done anything for her, but she still felt guilty that she forgot.

"Promise me that we'll make it up to her when we get back ok, Fel-chan. Ten fold."

Felicita sat up and grasped her sister's outstretched hand so it looked like they were about to arm wrestle. "Yeah." She said with a grin. That's when Silica practically tackled Felicita, taking them both to the ground. "Ow!" she yelled. "Silica-chan!"

Then the rest of the guild was there. Seiji plopped himself between Felicita and Kinade. Ryner and Riku stood above them.

"Stop being lazy." Ryner said Felicita with a smirk.

"You've been over here all day." Silica chided.

"Yeah." Seiji added. "You need to come and play with us."

"Fine I will." Felicita said, defeated. She looked at her sister. "Are you coming, Kinade-nee?"

"Nah." The older sister answered. "I think I will steal your idea. I'll relax for a while."

"Oh. Ok." Felictia stood up and was about to go when Kinade spoke again.

"Hey, guys. We've been in this game for almost a year now and we've worked too hard to throw that away. So promise me that you won't die any time soon, ok?"

Everyone except Felicita looked confused but they all promised. Felicita understood where that came from. Her sister still had things she wanted to do, like see Kyou again. She wanted all of them to make it back alive someday because now, she considered them all to be family.

"Well, is everyone ready to have some fun?" she asked.

Ryner sat down slightly behind Kinade in the shade. "If by that you mean abuse then no thanks. I'll sit this out for a bit." He said. Felicita noticed that he glanced at her sister as he said that.

Felicita felt a twinge in her heart. For a second, she wished that she was the one sitting next to Ryner in the shade of the tree. Then she shoved the thought from her head. Those kinds of thoughts would just depress her. She mentally pulled herself together and winked at him. "Who's lazy now?" She asked. She then turned to Silica, Riku, and Seiji. "So what do you guys want to do?" she asked before Ryner could retort.

They thought for a moment. Then Seiji started to bounce on the balls of his feet excitedly. "Can we try fishing?" he asked.

They stared at him for a minute. "You want to go fishing?" Felicita asked.

"Yes." He said with a determined look on his face. "I've always wanted to try it."

"That sounds boring." Silica complained. "Are you sure?"

The young boy nodded. Then Riku put a hand on his shoulder. "Actually, I've always wanted to try fishing too. I say we give it a shot."

Felicita smiled. Those two always wanted to try new things, from food to activities. She put her hand on Seiji's head. "Alright," she said. "Let's go fishing."

They then pulled out the few fishing rods that they had in the guild's shared storage and went to the small pier on the lake. Despite what Silica said about it sounding boring, she seemed to have fun. They let Seiji try first. Surprisingly, he caught something on the first try. He held it in his hands triumphantly until it smacked him with its tail and it flopped back into the water. They all laughed, even Seiji. After that, they didn't take it very seriously. They talked and laughed with each other, scaring the fish away half the time. Felicita was too impatient to catch anything, so after a while of teasing she let the others do it themselves. Eventually they caught a few and the guild ate the ones that Pina didn't steal for dinner.

Felicita went to bed that night feeling happy. She loved her guild. She felt safe with them and they were like her family. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, believing that she would be happy with them forever. However, little did she know that Sword Art Online would soon wipe that smile from her face for a long time.

**A/N: So that was it. Was it boring? I'm sorry if it was, I tried my best! Please review and give me feedback! The next chapter will be very important so look forward to it! I hope to see you next update.**


	7. Chapter 7: Cruelty and Coincidence Part1

Chapter 7: Cruelty and Coincidence Part 1

**A/N: Hey guys! So here is my next chapter. I should be able to post the next one sometime this week. Then, afterwards I should be able to post more often than every week so look forward to that. Please enjoy this chapter (and the next one seeing as how I had originally planned on these being one chapter) because I have been planning it for a really long time.**

2023/09/30

Today started like any other day for the Timber Wolves. It was quiet, peaceful. Of course, they were still on vacation so it was bound to be this way, but it was normal nonetheless. They woke up, had breakfast and prepared for their day. Felicita and Ryner bickered as usual. Riku, Seiji, and Silica were ever so excited to do anything and everything. Kinade then yelled and threw kitchen supplies at them to make them calm down and stay at normal noise level. They played the day away, near the lakes, in the town, in the forest, wherever they wanted to go (mostly the less mature members made these kind of decisions). Unfortunately for them, this did not last.

As the sun was going down, the small guild was back at the inn they were staying at, all of the members were in the common area. Most of them were relaxing from the fun, exhausting day that they had had. _Most _of them were, anyway. Of course, two people in particular were not and were disturbing the tranquility.

"What did you just say?" Felicita yelled at Ryner from across the room.

"Nothing that I absolutely need to say more than once." Ryner answered coolly.

"Well I dare you to say it again." Felicita challenged. "Say it. This time to my face!"

"You really are asking for it aren't you?" Ryner asked exasperatedly. "Fine, I'll tell you when you're chest isn't flat!"

Felicita tried to charge forward at him, but Riku stood up and held her back. Seiji and Silica sat on a nearby couch, watching over the back in awe and amusement. Kinade just sat nearby, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Ryner held his arms out, challenging Felicita to come at him. "Come on! If you want a fight, let's go!"

There was some more screaming before Kinade finally stepped in. The two quarreling guild members were inches apart when a knife suddenly flew in front of their eyes and struck the wall next to them. They both stopped mid shout. Everyone slowly turned their heads to look in the direction that the knife came from. Kinade stood there, her body slightly tensed and her hair covering her eyes, a fiery, angry aura seemed to surround her.

Everyone stared at her for a few moments, then, they were suddenly gone from the places they were frozen in. Seiji and Silica were turned back around on the couch, facing forward and resuming a card game. Riku sat on the floor nearby, watching them. Felicita and Ryner suddenly were looking at a painting on a wall nearby, smiling and talking about it as if they were interested. Ryner had an arm around Felictia's shoulders and she had an arm around his waist, they occasionally glanced nervously at Kinade who continued to stare at them. Things went on like this for a while and eventually Felicita and Ryner could not ignore Kinade anymore. They ended up just looking at her with wide smiles on their faces, their arms still around each other. The three of them stared at each other. Felicita could feel a drop of sweat drip down the back of her neck. Finally, Kinade sighed and sat back down, she picked up a book and began to read. Felicita and Ryner relaxed. The former felt her face grow hot as she realized how she and Ryner were holding each other. She quickly put her arm down while trying not to seem guilty of anything, and moved away from him. She sat down in a chair and opened her menu, beginning to scroll through it. Ryner just stood there, unsure of what to do as an awkward silence filled the room.

Seiji, Riku, and Silica glanced at each other. After what seemed to be a silent agreement between them, Seiji got up and walked over to where Felicita was sitting. Tugging at her sleeve, he said "Felicita-san?"

She looked down at him. "Yeah?"

"Can you take me back into town?"

The girl looked at him questioningly. "Why?"

"I want to go out." He answered simply.

Felicita looked at him suspiciously. Then a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked over at Riku and Silica. They were both giving her meaningful looks. Felicta stood up defeated. "Fine." She said.

"Yay!" Seiji said excitedly.

Felicita looked to her sister. "Is that alright, Onee-chan?"

Kinade nodded, still looking at her book. "Yeah. Just don't come back too late."

"Ok." Felicita said. Then she looked at everyone else. "Does anyone else want to come?"

Riku shook her head. Silica waved her hand in farewell. "Nope," she answered. "You guys have fun!" Felicita waited for someone to volunteer. When no one did she followed Seiji toward the door.

"Have fun on your date." Ryner said quickly.

Felicita shot a quick "shut up" at him, before she walked out the door.

* * *

It was night, so many lights lit up the streets of the nearby town. Seiji led Felicita down the streets, to shops and stalls, looking at everything and showing her things that he thought looked cool. Felicita couldn't help but enjoy herself a little, Seiji's energetic mood was very contagious. Though, in the back of her mind, she thought firmly in response to Ryner's last sly comment "This is definitely not a date. Seiji is younger than me." This was very obvious as Seiji was both shorter than her and he acted a lot more childishly . . . in an innocent way.

After a while, Seiji yawned widely. Felicita saw this despite the fact that Seiji tried to hide it.

"Tired?" she asked him. Seiji hesitated. Then he nodded. "Do you want to go back now?"

He shook his head as furiously as he could with his fatigue. "No," he said firmly. "I don't want to leave yet."

Felicita studied him. He was obviously tired, his eyelids were drooping and he struggled to keep them open, but there was a certain determined look upon his face that the girl could not ignore. She sighed. "Fine." She said. Then she looked around and spotted a tree by a lake. It was a little ways away from the town, so it was a little dark, but the moon did a good job of lighting up the dark landscape.

Felicita led Seiji over to the tree and she sat them down under it. "We can rest here." She said. "Just take a quick nap or something."

Seiji smiled softly and hummed in agreement. Then he scooted closer to Felicita and he rested his head on her shoulder. Soon after, he was fast asleep. Felicita was surprised by his choice of a place to nap, but she couldn't help but smile once he fell asleep. Slowly and carefully, so as not to wake him up, she moved her arm and put it around him.

She absently stared out over the water and without meaning to, fell asleep.

* * *

Felicita didn't know when she fell asleep, but the next thing she knew someone was waking her up. It was a soothing voice that was coaxing her to wake up and still partly asleep, she obeyed. Her vision was a little blurry as her eyes opened. A smiling face greeted her. At first she thought it was Ryner. She smiled slightly. Then, as her head began to clear, she noticed that something was different. Something was wrong. That smile . . . it looked evil, malicious. That wasn't Ryner.

That's when she noticed the knife point that was poised above her. She opened her mouth to scream, gasp, something, but her mouth was covered by an unknown hand and she was stabbed in the shoulder. She wanted to get up, but her body wouldn't let her. The girl checked her health bar. Her health had gone down slightly, though it wasn't yellow yet and next to the health bar was a paralysis symbol.

Felicita's eyes darted around wildly, trying to understand what was happening. Several people were standing around her, they all seemed to be male. Most of them were holding weapons and wearing cloaks, watching her with amused looks on their faces. Who were they? What were they doing?

The girl's eyes focused on the boy in front of her. He seemed to be smiling the widest, as if he were truly enjoying this, like it was some game.

"Hey, shorty." He said almost nonchalantly as if they were old friends and they were meeting for the first time in a while. "Surprise. Do you remember me?" Felicita could barely shake her head, due to the poison and her fear. "Oh come on," he coaxed softly. "You can try harder than that."

She looked at him. His identity didn't hit her for a while, but then she remembered the name he had called her, "shorty." She remembered Seiji beaten on the ground and her fight in the jungle with . . .

Felicita's eyes widened and she took a sharp intake of breath. He put his hand back over her mouth. "Now, now." He seemed to chastise her. "Don't be so loud. We wouldn't want to wake _him_ up now would we?" At first, Felicita had no idea who he was talking about. She looked at her captor confusedly. He chuckled darkly and turned slightly, gesturing behind him. One of his lackeys was squatting on his heels and on the ground next to him was a small, sleeping figure: Seiji.

The most Felicita could do as far as a reaction was jerk her body away from the boy near her in an attempt to get to her friend. That's when he sat next to her, putting a tight arm around her waist to keep her in place. Felicita felt her body tense up.

"Where are you going?" he asked in an obviously false, innocent voice. "The fun hasn't started yet." Felicita's heart dropped. He was planning something horrible, she knew it.

He grabbed the trembling girl's chin and made her face him as he spoke. "You're shaking." He said with a sadistic smile on his face. Felicita just continued to look at him, fearing what he was planning to do. "Now, let me explain to you what is going to happen here. You see these guys?" he asked, gesturing to the group of people around them. "These are some good friends of mine, and they're here to help me with my little . . . problem. See, when you fought me in that jungle, you humiliated me. It was quite embarrassing really, being beaten by a scrawny girl like you." At this he trailed a finger under her chin which made her shiver. "And then, to make it worse, you took my precious little friend with you as we were right in the middle of something _very_ important. So, as you can imagine, I am not very happy with you right now." He smirked at the girl he forcefully held as she stared at him in silent fear. "I wanted to find some way to make myself feel better because, after all, you hurt my pride. Then it hit me. What would really make me feel better is getting my revenge and watching you suffer. So, you are going to sit here and watch us finish the thing that we had started the day we first met. Then," he said pausing, "I might have some more fun with you." The hand that was on her chin, dropped and trailed up Felicita's leg. The petite girl's skin crawled with a mixture of hate, disgust, and absolute terror.

The boy beside her gave a signal to those that were surrounding them. One of then nodded and opened his menu. After a few minutes, a small screen appeared in front of Seiji. The one kneeling next to Seiji gently took Seiji's finger and pressed it to the screen. The screen disappeared and a timer appeared above them. It started at thirty seconds and began to count down.

Felicita desperately wanted to move, but the poison from the dagger was preventing it. All she could do was sit under the tree and watch. With ten seconds remaining, her captor whispered into her ear "I hope you will enjoy this, because I will." The timer reached zero and a "begin" icon appeared.

That was when the one who had sent the duel request pulled out his sword and shoved it into Seiji's back. "Sei . . . ji!" Felicita could barely say her friend's name in desperation before her mouth was covered again. Seiji startled awake. He looked around in confusion before he registered the pain from the sword sticking out of his body. He seemed to panic as he began to scream in pain and grope around his back, attempting to remove the weapon from where it was lodged. His screams weren't very loud, it was kind of soft, strangled, which made this all the more heart breaking for Felicita.

She struggled, trying desperately to move. The arm around her waist tightened, painfully. Panicked screams of her own began in her throat as the sword was twisted into her friend's back, the hilt sinking lower. Laughter came from her captor. The volume of Seiji's screams increased. The small boy began to thrash less, as if losing the will to fight. His body trembling, he looked to Felicita, whose eyes were widened in silent horror. He reached his small hand out to her and opened his mouth as if to say something. Then, his body shattered, scattering into the air, and Seiji knew no more.

* * *

Ryner stepped out of the inn. He looked around, trying to see if Seiji and Felicita were just coming toward them down the road. They were nowhere to be seen. A hollow feeling seemed to fill his chest, it was midnight and those two hadn't come back yet. He was very worried.

Footsteps came from behind him and a soft but urgent voice said "Do you see them?" he could tell this was Kinade.

"No." he answered her in a worried tone. A ringing sound came from the direction of the voice. After a while, Kinade moved next to him and showed him a map of the nearby town. She silently pointed to a small dot that was just outside of it. "Felicita?" he asked.

Kinade hummed in the affirmative. "She's not moving though, so be armed and ready just in case." Ryner nodded and pulled out his sword as he followed his friend, wondering what could have happened.

* * *

Felicita screamed and jerked forward. How cruel it was that the poison just wore off. She was quickly stabbed with the poison dagger again and she became paralyzed once more. She was pulled back so that she once again had her back resting against the tree.

She stared in numb shock at the place where Seiji disappeared from, she barely took notice of the laughter that rang out around her. The boy next to her stood up, he was laughing the hardest. "That was rich!" he yelled, kicking the dirt on the spot where Seiji had lain moments before. Then he turned to Felicita. "Now it's your turn." He pulled up his menu and pressed a few things before a small screen appeared in front of her, a duel request. "I had to send a request earlier to poison you, but since that duel just wore off, I need to ask you again!" Someone picked her finger up and pressed it to the screen. She tried to resist but the poison made her arm so limp, she might as well have been trying to Judo throw a mountain.

Agate, as the duel request had revealed her future killer's name to be, knelt beside her and held her chin, making her look up at him again. "Now," he began as the timer started to count down "I get to watch you squirm and writhe as I beat the crap out of you in the same type of duel you humiliated me in." he smiled again, maliciously. "Then, I think, we'll be even."

He equipped a sword and sat beside her, patiently waiting for the timer to hit zero. Felicita still could not believe that Seiji had died. He had been so innocent, he didn't deserve to die. Now she was shaking in fear of knowing that she would soon be with him.

The timer seemed to reach zero too quickly, because the next thing Felicita knew, a sword was sticking out of her abdomen. She gasped in pain, her arms lifted to try and remove the weapon, put hands came and held her down.

"No!" Agate yelled at them. "Leave her be! I want to see her struggle!" the hands moved away and Felicita's arms automatically, but slowly, grasped the blade, fruitlessly trying to remove it. "You know," Agate began to speak as if they were having a normal conversation. "NPCs can't make faces like that. That's what makes this so exhilarating."

Felicita's attacker picked the sword up and stabbed her through the chest this time. Felicita gave a strangled cry as her fingers weakly scratched at the place the blade had been stabbed. Agate laughed maniacally as he picked the sword up and repeatedly stabbed her. Felicita watched her health bar helplessly as it began to go down. Green . . . yellow . . . red. She was going to die.

A hand pulled the sword out of her and out of Agate's hand. Agate looked irritated, furious, but a cold, steady voice came from under the hood of the one that had saved her HP from going past red. "You're not supposed to kill her." It said.

"Tch." Agate said. "I know what I'm doing." He snatched his sword back and put it in his sheath. Soon after, the timer for their duel ran out and a "congratulations" icon appeared before Agate. He sighed dramatically. "Oh well. It's a shame that I can't kill you . . . yet. But I am satisfied for now." He stood up. "Remember what happened here today and hope that we never see each other again." With that, they all teleported, leaving Felicita alone under the tree by the lake.

* * *

Ryner ran behind Kinade. They had been running for a while now and Ryner was growing very impatient. They should have found Felicita and Seiji by now. He looked ahead of them, hoping to see something. That's when he saw what looked like a body by a lake. "There!" he yelled. The moonlight made it hard to tell, but he had a sinking feeling that it _was _a body near that lake and that it was either Seiji or Felicita. Kinade yelled as she sprinted harder.

* * *

Felicita did not know how long she laid there. She was curled up in the spot Seiji had died in. She sobbed for what seemed like hours until she slowly came to a stop. She seemed to be out of tears, her body was exhausted so she just laid there trembling. Then, she even lost the strength to tremble, so she lay there motionless, desperatly hoping that death would take her.

She barely noticed when her sister ran up and hurriedly flipped her over. She barely noticed her HP fill up and become green again as Kinade used a healing crystal. She barely noticed when her sister wrapped her in a tight hug, then said her name, asking her if she was alright.

"Fel-chan?" Kinade said, now thoroughly concerned about her younger sister as she wasn't saying anything. "Fel-chan!" she said louder, shaking her sister by the shoulders.

After a while, Felicita finally looked up at her sister. "Onee-chan?" she said. Ryner and Kinade were startled at this. The small girl sounded . . . broken.

"Yes." Kinade assured her. "It's me. What happened Fel-chan? Where's Seiji?"

There was silence. Then Felicita said "Seiji?" her older sister nodded. "Seiji." Felicita's voice broke at this and a tear rolled down her cheek. Then she began to sob again. "It was a sleep PK!" she said between breaths. That's when she told them everything that happened. How she and Seiji decided to rest under the tree when Seiji refused to go back to the inn to sleep. How she had fallen asleep without meaning to and woke up to Agate paralyzing her. How she could only watch as Seiji died before her and how she was almost killed the same way. By the time Felicita finished her retelling, Kinade had let go of her, her hands down by her sides. Ryner had let his sword tip touch the ground and just stared.

"I couldn't do anything!" Felicita said between sobs. "I felt so helpless! I couldn't do anything! I-." Then, to her surprise and Ryner's, Kinade slapped her. Felicita suddenly went silent. Her older sister had never hit her before. Felicita's hand went to the place where she had been struck. "Onee-?"

"Suzuka, shut up!" Kinade yelled, standing up and cutting off her little sister, surprising her even more by using her real name. "Just shut the hell up!" Kinade was shaking. "Don't give me that crap! You could've done _something!_ You could've come home earlier. You could have stayed awake. You could have acted _responsible _for once, but _no _you _had_ to stay out _here_ in the middle of the night where every damn thing could possibly go wrong!" Kinade paused here, but she did not stop. "You know what? Everything that goes wrong is your fault! Seiji died because of you! I logged into this game and got stuck in it because of you! Kyou-san is probably suffering now because of you! And our parents left us because of you!"

Felicita still sat on the ground, crying silently. Every point that her sister made against her stung and broke her heart. Everything her sister had just said left her speechless.

Kinade was breathing hard staring down at her little sister. As a tear slid down Kinade's cheek, she turned away. "You're so weak. _Juvenile. _Why don't you just grow up already and stop ruining my life?" with that, Kinade stormed away.

Then it was just Felicita and Ryner. Ryner looked down at the girl, they were both still in shock. Felicita finally looked up at him. "Ryner-kun?" she seemed to beg. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Then Ryner clenched his jaw and shook his head at her. Felicita's heart shattered as he walked away. She reached her arms out, as if to grab him, pull him back, but they fell limply to the ground. She watched as the people she loved walked down the path and were gone.

Felicita didn't know what to do now, so she sat there, still staring into the distance. Her sister's words were still ringing in her ears. Suddenly, she stood up angry. How could she have caused any of that? She hadn't known that Seiji would die, that they would be stuck in this goddamn death game, or that her selfish, good for nothing parents would divorce and leave them as if they were something unpleasant that they had scraped off of their shoes. And she was_ not_ weak! She had survived this long hadn't she?

The girl pulled out a teleport crystal. _I'll show her. _Felicita thought just before the crystal shattered and she disappeared from Floor 22.

**A/N: Well that was kind of . . . sad. At least for me it was. I actually got a little emotional as I was writing (typing?) this. Did you guys feel it too? It might have just been me because I inflicted pain upon my "children." (Ok, don't judge me! My OCs are practically my children. I create them and then I throw them into their lives.) And to think that this is only part one. So yeah, please review, follow, favorite, whatever the hell you guys want to do. I would greatly appreciate it if you did one or more of the first three things I suggested. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8: Cruelty and Coincidence Part2

Chapter 8: Cruelty and Coincidence Part 2

**A/N: Ugh. Ok. Finally finished with this chapter. This is the longest one I have written so far. I had originally planned on making it shorter but one thing led to another and this came to be. I had also planned on posting this a lot earlier but I had some writer's block. I have literally been working on this chapter for about four days. That doesn't sound like much but it is for me. I usually type a chapter one day and pretty it up and post it the next. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. I worked hard on it!**

The streets were dark, it was barely past two in the morning. Despite how early it was, there were several people milling about, going about their own business. A cool breeze swept through the plaza. It made the leaves on the trees rustle and the grass sway lazily. Some players pulled their cloaks tighter around themselves, trying to shield themselves from Aincrad's cold, autumn air. Felicita, however, welcomed the cold.

The petite girl had appeared earlier in the square with a flash of bright, white light. She had looked around, studying her surroundings, for they could quite possibly be one of the last things she ever saw. At this thought, though, she felt nothing. She felt hollow inside, numb. She didn't care anymore, she just wanted to get this over with.

As she stepped down from the teleportation platform, and felt the cool air, she smiled a humorless smile. There was hardly any emotion in it at all. The best word that could be used to describe it was bitter. The cold seemed to greet her, like an old friend, her only friend now.

The smile quickly vanished, replaced by a cold, stoic expression, as Felicita began to walk. She went out of the square and through the town to the outskirts where a large, wide column seemed to extend from the ground to the next floor above.

A large, wooden door loomed in front of the small girl. She stopped within her arm's length of it, looking up at its enormity. Slowly, her eyes lowered to her eye level. _So this is the dungeon of this floor. _Felicita placed her palm on the wooden surface. She had plans for this dungeon. It was the dungeon of Floor 42, and it was yet to be cleared. Felicita planned to clear this floor alone. Then, she planned to take on the boss, alone. She was either going to prove herself or die trying, for there was nothing left that she felt was worth living for anymore.

* * *

Kinade was walking very briskly, jogging was actually a more precise word for it but it was still a little off. Tears were streaming down her face, but she barely noticed them as so many thoughts raced through her mind. She could faintly hear Ryner calling her name in the distance.

She couldn't understand. Everything was so normal a few hours ago. Now so many things had . . . gone wrong.

For one, Seiji was dead. Kinade couldn't believe that. She was scrolling through her friends list and couldn't find him anywhere. Seiji was so innocent. How could he die? When she had first met Seiji, she thought he was kind of adorable. He was so shy and wouldn't talk much, but he was sweet. As time went on, he was so happy and he laughed so much. It was somehow contagious. He got along with everyone, yet he seemed to really take a liking to . . .

Felicita. The thought of her sister made Kinade stop walking. Felicita. Kinade didn't know what to think of her and their relationship right now. They were sisters, they had been through a lot together, but . . .

Kinade shook her head, eyes closed and a hand on each side of her face. Her world was so screwed up. She had been so close with her younger sister. What happened?

"Kinade!" the girl in question turned around at the sound of her name. Ryner was running up behind her. He stopped next to her, panting. He looked into her eyes as he tried to catch his breath. His hand slightly reached out, as if he was going to touch her, but the hand hesitated and went back down. "You're crying." He stated simply.

The girl laughed humorlessly. "That's what happens when you lose someone you care about."

"Just _a _someone?" he asked skeptically.

Kinade looked at him for a moment before she continued to walk, her eyes determinedly looking forward.

Ryner had to jog a little to keep up. "What about Fel? You know, your _sister?_"

Kinade barely glanced at her friend. "What about her?"

"Don't you think you were a little harsh?"

"No. Didn't you hear what I said? She needs to grow up and learn how to hold her own."

"She's lived this long hasn't she?"

"If you had wanted to take her side you shouldn't have followed me."

"I'm not taking her side. I agree with _you._"

"That's not how you're making this sound right now. What exactly is your point?"

Ryner didn't know what to say for a bit. What _was_ his point? Why was he defending Felicita if he agreed with Kinade? In fact, why did he now feel like he should have stayed by that tree near the lake instead of following Kinade?

He shook his head. "I-I agree with you." He repeated. "Fel could have shown some responsibility and come home, but how was she supposed to know that Seiji would die?" his voice broke on the last word. He paused before quietly continuing. "She had just witnessed his death and_ she_ almost died herself. Then you just . . . slapped her and yelled at her. Couldn't you have waited for that?"

Kinade stopped. They were on the porch of the inn now. "No." she said softly. "She needed to hear it."

Ryner ran his hand through his hair. "Shouldn't we have at least brought her home with us?"

"She'll come back on her own." Kinade said, looking down.

They stood there in silence. "What are we gonna do about Riku and Silica?" Ryner asked.

"They don't need to know right now. Let them sleep in peace just one more night." Kinade answered. Ryner nodded. Then he couldn't resist staring down the road they had just come from. He couldn't help but hope that a certain short, flat-chested girl would be walking toward them on it.

Kinade caught him staring. She watched him for a minute. "Do you like her?" The girl asked.

Ryner looked at her quickly. "Wh-what? No! I-I mean she's not the one . . ." he trailed off, his face slightly red.

Kinade finally understood. She instantly felt bad for him. She didn't want to have to break it to him and hurt his feelings so she quickly changed the subject. "Let's go inside. It's been a long day." She said coldly. "Go get some rest."

"But-." Ryner began to argue.

"She'll come back on her own time." Kinade cut him off and opened the door. He stood there for a minute, looking as if he may try to argue further. Then he walked through the door, even though he knew he was probably not going to be able to sleep.

Kinade looked down the road for a moment. Today was definitely not supposed to start this way. She turned with a sharp "hmph" and went inside.

* * *

Felicita had barely been inside the dungeon for one minute before she was overrun. Of course, that was to be expected. It was a high level dungeon after all.

At first, she thought the problem had been that she had run into a spiders' nest. But _no. _After she had barely escaped from _that _she_ had_ to be chased by giant centipedes. Her life was just _fantastic!_

She barely dodged as one of them lunged at her. Then she had to quickly parry away the pincers of another and run. She skidded around the corner just as an insect charged by her and slammed into the wall.

Felicita was breathing hard. She checked her health bar and it was in the yellow. She registered that fact just as a centipede lunged at her again. She rolled and slashed at it. It reared and roared as it shattered and disappeared. The girl barely had time to feel triumphant before about five more were upon her. She wasn't as lucky this time as one of the bugs was able to knock her into a wall. She gasped as her back struck the hard surface and she fell to the ground, dazed.

Her vision blurred and went in and out of focus. She tried blinking to make it right itself. With every blink, her eyesight corrected itself. She felt around for her sword, which had fallen out of her hand. When her fingers touched the handle, she moved over to grasp it and pulled it over to her body with a soft moan. She looked above her, and it was suddenly dark. _Why is it dark?_

Her eyes focused and she realized it was a centipede bearing down on her. It lurched down, as if to eat her. Felicita quickly put her sword tip up with a yell and it caught the insect in its mouth . . . but not before a pincer entered her shoulder. She clenched her jaw as she waited for the monster to disintegrate.

She laid there briefly, panting. Then, as she noticed the other monsters creep toward her, she rolled onto her stomach and staggered up, subconsciously holding the shoulder of her sword arm. She backed up slowly, warily watching her attackers. They slowly inched toward her, pincers snapping. Felicita seemed to jump five feet in the air as her back hit something. Glancing behind her, she realized it was a wall.

"Shit." She whispered to herself as she tried to figure out what to do. She was surrounded. One of the insects crawled close to her. Panicking, she slashed her sword at it, decapitating it. When it shattered, she took the opening and bolted through it, barely catching herself when she tripped. They were chasing her again. _Why don't they just give up?_

Felicita glanced at her health bar again. It just entered the red. _Is this how it's going to end?_

The petite girl continued to run, even though she knew that those damn insects were catching up. Suddenly, her sword was jerked from her hand. Her shoulder was jerked back with it and she was forced to turn around. One of the centipedes had grabbed her sword with its mouth and had tossed it somewhere, she couldn't see it anymore. An insect rammed into her and she fell to the floor. She stared up at it as it reared, ready to strike. Felicita smirked as the pincers descended upon her.

* * *

Kinade sat in the common room of the inn. She sat in a chair in the corner, but in good view of the door. She kept the room dark. She had no desire to see it right now. She had no desire to see anything. She just sat there waiting for . . . something.

Her arms and legs were crossed, her eyes staring blankly into the center of the room. She was growing impatient, her foot was absently bouncing up and down and her teeth were grinding. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She put her hand in the air and swiftly moved it down, opening her menu. She pressed some buttons and opened up her friends list. She scrolled through it until she found who she was looking for. Kinade tapped Felicita's name and waited for the map to pull up. _Why isn't she back yet?_

At first, Kinade didn't recognize the map that came up. A dot with her sister's name tagged to it showed up but Kinade had no idea what this place was. Then she noticed the title: Floor 42. Kinade was shocked. _What was she doing there?_

She stood up quickly. _That stupid girl. _Kinade didn't bother waking Ryner or the others, she had to deal with this herself. She barely kept herself from slamming the door as she stormed out of the inn.

* * *

Felicita was confused when she noticed she was still alive. The insect in front of her shattered and its data disappeared into the air. For a moment, she was staring at the ceiling. She blinked then looked around her. A blur went by and killed the other bugs with a sword. As they all disintegrated, the blur put the sword back in its sheath. It was Kinade.

The two girls stared at each other for a moment before Kinade stomped toward the younger sister. "What the hell were you doing up here? You baka!" Kinade angrily yelled at her. Felicita just stared. "Did you think you could clear this on your own? Are you really that naïve? You're not strong enough! This is what I meant by juvenile and irresponsible! What did you not understand?"

This made Felicita speak. "Why did you save me?" her voice was quavering in anger. "If you hated me, why did you save me?"

Kinade looked at her a moment, her eyes narrowed. "Death is not the answer to stupidity." Was her answer. There was silence as they looked at each other. Then, as Felicita turned away, Kinade added. "You can't keep rushing into things without thinking first."

Felicita wanted to say something back, but she held her tongue, she was not in the mood for a fight with her sister right now. She began to walk away, but her older sister appeared in front of her. "Let me go." Felicita said darkly.

"No." Kinade answered firmly.

"Why don't we just leave here? You have teleportation crystals don't you?"

"You'll still runaway if we leave." Kinade said with her arms crossed.

Felicita didn't want to fight, but she would if she had to. She drew the spare sword that she had in her inventory. "Move." She growled dangerously. Kinade stood there, a determined look on her face.

Felicita was really irritated now. She lunged at her sister, trying to stab her. Before she could blink, Kinade had used her sword to redirect her younger sister's blow above her head. _When did she draw her sword? _Felicita was stunned. This left an opening for Kinade to kick her in the stomach sending Felicita sprawling. Felicita was really pissed now. She yelled as she got up and tried to slash her sword at her sister. Kinade calmly knocked the sword aside. It spun out of Felicita's hand and before she could do anything, Kinade hit her in the side with the hilt of her weapon. Felicita clutched at it as she sank to the ground.

Kinade sighed. Then she pulled out a healing crystal and made Felicita's health return to green. The younger sister slowly stood up, her hands clenched by her sides. "We get out of here together." Kinade said. "We need to talk anyway."

"About what?" Felicita asked sharply.

"We're sisters and we are fighting each other in a death game. We should try to get along."

They stared each other down. It was obvious that they hated each other right now. They're eyes were narrowed and, if Felicita's hands were real, she would be clenching them so hard that her nails would have broken the skin of her palm and gone into her hands by now.

Finally Kinade turned and started walking. "Come on, we have a long way to go."

Felicita made a "tch" sound as she picked up her sword and, after hesitating, followed her sister.

* * *

The two sisters walked in awkward silence for the majority of their trip. Neither of them knew what to say. Both of them had at least a small desire to make up, but they didn't know how to go about doing it. The closest thing they had for a conversation was when they had to fight monsters and fought together. They hadn't said anything, but at least it had been something.

Kinade had, by this time, sent a message to Ryner, explaining where she had gone and not to worry because they were coming back. Now, the two girls were walking side by side, though a little distanced from one another, and Kinade had finally gotten tired of the silence.

"Suzuka-." She began.

"That's not my name." her sister cut her off quickly.

Kinade sighed. "Felicita."

Before she could say anything else, Felicita said sharply. "There's nothing for us to talk about. Now I know your true feelings. I have nothing to say."

Kinade said nothing for a while, she only looked at her sister from the corner of her eye. Then she tried again, "You could at least tell me how _you_ feel. I want to be able to work this out but you need to cooperate." Felicita didn't answer. "Felicita-!"

"There's the exit." Felicita cut her sister off. It was true, they had finally gotten to the exit. They had almost reached the wooden doors when Kinade placed herself in front of Felicita.

"We haven't worked this out yet."

"Why are you doing this?" Felicita yelled at her sister. "I still don't understand!" Kinade opened her mouth but Felicita continued. "If you had felt that way this whole time, why didn't you say anything? Why did you lead me on, letting me believe that my sister loved me? I loved you and all this time you hated me! What you did was cruel and-."

"I did love you!" Kinade interjected. "You are my sister and for the longest time you were my only family!" Felicita didn't know what to say, so she just stared. "I'm doing this because I want us to be able to feel close like we used to be." Kinade was telling the truth. She felt that she still loved her sister, but so many things kept happening to them that made her want to blame it on someone else. That person had unfortunately been her sister.

Felicita's throat seemed to constrict. "Onee-chan." Felicita was a little relieved. Her sister made up the majority of her world. What she was saying to her meant a lot.

They looked at each other. The corner of Kinade's mouth twitched at the sound of her sister's name for her. That was a good first step. Then, Felicita noticed her sister's body become rigid. "Onee-?" Before Felicita could finish, Kinade shoved her. The younger girl fell to the ground. Her first instinct was to cuss her sister out, but as she looked up she froze. A large spider was over her, and in its pincers was her older sister. Someone screamed as Felicita drove her sword into the spider's underbelly. Felicita wasn't sure, but it might have been her.

The spider hissed and thrashed, Kinade flinched as she was thrashed around as well. She was trying to keep the pincers from cutting her in half. This didn't help much though, her health was depleting rapidly.

Finally, the spider stilled and shattered, blue and green bits of its data dissipating into the air. Kinade was left standing and Felicita was still on the ground. Relief spread through her as she let her sword fall next to her. Then Kinade smirked as she fell backward. Felicita quickly caught her and laid her head in her lap. She was confused until she saw her sister's health bar. It was in the red and still depleting.

Panicked, Felicita reached for a healing crystal. Kinade calmly put a hand on her sister's. Felicita looked at her sister fearfully. Kinade looked into her sister's eyes. "Baka." She said to her younger sister. Then, her HP hit zero and she shattered. Honoka Tachibana was dead.

* * *

Fellicta did not know how long she sat there. She was surprised that she was crying. She thought that Seiji's death had taken up all her tears. But this was worse than Seiji's death. It was ten times worse. She half wished that another spider would come and kill her. No such thing happened though. What was she supposed to do now? She stood up. She decided that she couldn't just leave without an explanation. She decided to go back to her guild.

Felicita was numbly trudging down the road to the inn her guild was staying at. She was staring at the ground, her hands hung limply by her sides. She didn't notice that Ryner was running up to her until he called her name. She looked up as he stopped right in front of her.

"Fel," he said, out of breath. "I'm glad you back. I was worried when Kinade didn't come back, and then, when she sent that message, I couldn't help but wait outside for you." He looked her in the eyes. "You shouldn't have run off like that, Fel. It was irresponsible." He looked around her. "Now where's Kinade? I need to tell her that too." When Felicita didn't answer, he looked at her. "Felicita?"

It was a while before she answered. "Kinade's dead."

Ryner just looked at her. "What?"

Felicita answered in a quavering voice. "She's dead."

Ryner slowly shook his head in disbelief. A hand ran through his hair as he looked at the ground. "She . . . She can't be . . . dead. She's Kinade. She can't die. How did this . . .?" He looked at Felicita. "You." He said, shock turning to anger. "It was like Seiji all over again wasn't it? You let her die. This is your fault."

"No. Ryner-." Felicita wanted to explain herself, but Ryner continued.

"You couldn't have just come home? You had to run away and make your sister chase after you? This just proves that what she said was true. You killed Seiji! You killed Kinade! All this is your fault!" He pointed his finger at her accusingly. "I loved her and you let her die!"

Felicita couldn't take it anymore. She finally burst. "Do you think I don't know that? I watched both of them die! I tried to help you get with Kinade, which was a waste of time! And do you want to know why? It was because Kinade swore off love after our parents divorced each other for other people and left us alone with no one to take care of us! She thought love was stupid! It caused a lot of crap to happen! She wanted to focus on _important _things like school and making our lives better! She wanted to be a lawyer, she was a great person and you have the nerve to say that I let her die?"

Ryner looked at her, stunned. "If it was so pointless, why did you try to help me?"

"I loved her! I wanted her to be happy and I thought love could do that for her. She hardly ever worried about herself." Despite was Felicita was saying, she still felt like a horrible person. She still felt that she had killed Seiji and her sister. She wasn't worthy enough to have known them. "You seemed like a good person." She continued. "You might have been best for her." She was not going to admit that she did it because she loved him too, but she _was _hoping that her words would make him hate her less.

That didn't work. Ryner looked at her with cold eyes. "What you did was cruel." He said. "And I will never forgive you for it." Those words seemed to stab Felicita in the heart. Ryner stared her in the eyes one last time before he turned and walked away.

Felicita didn't want to see him go, but she couldn't bring herself to call him back. Her heart ached in her chest. She didn't know what she was feeling, but it hurt, a lot.

Ryner was gone.

Felicita felt tears flowing down her cheeks. She wondered again how she still had enough tears to cry. She turned and walked the way she came, slowly at first, then she sped up until she began to run and went to the only place she knew that could take her pain away.

* * *

Riku was sitting next to Silica on a couch in the inn's common area. Silica was crying into her hands and Riku had a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her despite how much she felt like crying herself. Pina was on Silica's other shoulder, moaning sadly. They weren't quite sure what had happened, but all Ryner told them was that Seiji was dead. They had checked their menus and couldn't find him anywhere. Now, Ryner, Felicita, and Kinade were all gone.

Ryner burst through the door and the two girls instantly stood up.

"Ryner-san." Riku went up to him and confronted him immediately. "What happened? Where are Felicita-san and Kinade-san?" it was hard for her to ask him because he was walking very swiftly to the staircase.

"Kinade's dead." He answered. "And Felicita's not coming back."

"What?" Silica asked.

"Ryner-san, you need to give us more than that! What is going on?" Riku barely said through her shock.

Ryner angrily swatted Pina away who was circling him. "Not right now!" he yelled. "Just leave me alone!" He went up the stairs and slammed the door to his room behind him.

Riku stood at the foot of the staircase. She could hear Pina squawking and hitting the door. She had no idea what was happening. She heard a ringing sound and looked to see Silica looking through her menu. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Looking for Felicita-chan." Silica said, her voice tight.

Riku immediately went to her friend's side. Silica tapped Felicita's name and a moment later, a map of the first floor came up. They were confused as to why she was there, but both of them immediately set off, Pina following behind them. They wanted answers and Felicita was the only one left that could give them what they wanted.

* * *

Felicita was standing on the ledge of the first floor. The setting sun painted the clouds below her an orange color. Felicita had seen many people jump before, especially after the first week in the game. It seemed an easy, painless way to die. It was perfect for what she wanted to do. She wanted to finish where it all started. Then she might be able to atone for . . . everything.

She took a step forward and she started to fall. The air rushing by her felt nice. Then it stopped. She could feel hands grabbing her armor and pulling her back up. She was hoisted over the edge and she fell to the ground. She looked around her and saw Riku and Silica sitting on the ground beside her, panting. She was surprised.

Riku looked up at her sharply. "What were you doing?" she yelled. "Do you want to die?"

"Yes." Felicita answered truthfully.

Riku and Silica looked at each other. "What's going on?" Silica asked her. "You can tell us Felicita-chan. Please! We want to know. All Ryner-chan told us was that Seiji-kun and Kinade-san were dead and that you were leaving. Let us understand! Let us help you."

Felicita stood up. "No." she said. "You can't help me." She began to walk away.

"What are you doing, Felicita-san?" Riku asked in a panicked voice.

"Leaving." Felicita said as she began to run.

* * *

Felicita wasn't quite sure where she was. Somewhere in the fields on the first floor. She didn't bother checking her map though. Right now, she was too busy deleting her former guild mates off of her friends list. Her desire for suicide had faded now. She doubted the universe would let her do it if she tried again anyway.

She had come to a few conclusions as she sat there. One was that she labeled the feeling that made her heart hurt so much. It was loneliness. It hurt like hell. She never knew that an emotion could hurt this much. But maybe it was best for her. She always seemed to cause trouble for the people around her. Maybe loneliness was best, safer anyway.

Also, she decided that killing herself wasn't best either. Kinade had made her promise not to die and because she knew that she had loved the Kinade that had asked that of her, she was going to try her best to stay alive. In addition to that, she was going to try her best to better herself. She felt that, if she could improve the flaws her sister had said she had, maybe she could better atone that way.

Felicita wasn't quite sure how she was going to do that, but she would do it somehow.

She looked out over the fields. It was dark now, but she could still see some boars grazing. To think that those things could have killed her that day about a year ago.

Deciding that maybe she would find a room at an inn in the nearby town, Felicita began to exit her menu. That's when she noticed the date: October 1st 2023. She stared at it for a while before closing her menu. She sat there quietly for a long time. Then soft laughter began to come from her throat. It slowly grew louder and eventually became hysterical. She went on her hands and knees before rolling onto her side, then her back. She laughed openly to the air, her arms and legs spread out. Then, as tears began to come and her laughs became oddly mixed with sobs, she thought bitterly to herself "Happy Birthday to me."

**A/N: Ok, so maybe this isn't the kind of chapter you would enjoy reading. So much crap happens. I'm not sure what you would call it when you feel so much hurtful emotion in a chapter of a story yet you still want to keep reading. You're not really "enjoying" it. Anyway I want to officially announce that the number of favorites, follows, and reviews for this story have individually reached the double digits! *applause* Yes thank you! I would like to thank those of you that have contributed to these numbers. I love you guys! As for those of you reading that have not done any of those things: what the hell is wrong with you?! Do you not like me or something? Am I just that unlovable? Inner voice: yes, you killed Seiji and Kinade. Me: I really hate myself sometimes. Thank you conscience. So yeah, please review, favorite, and follow. I really want to know how I did with this chapter. I feel like I rushed it a bit and the way that I show emotion is off. My next chapter should be up after the usual waiting time.**


	9. Chapter 9: A Gray Christmas

Chapter 9: A Gray Christmas

**A/N: So, here's my chapter 9. I managed to post a little earlier than I thought I would, mostly because I had writer's block on how to begin this chapter. Anyway, this is kind of a filler . . . I think, so please enjoy!**

2023/11/13

It was a cold, November night on Floor 45. Barely anyone was outside. They were all either at home or in a restaurant or something. The lanterns outside shone their warm light on the streets below. A bright crescent moon could be seen in the sky amongst the stars in the distance, the rays of moonlight gently adding to the brightness of the town.

However, all of this light was not enough to completely illuminate a dark figure walking across the square. This figure wore a dark, gray cloak around its shoulders, the hood was up and it kept their face well hidden. The figure seemed to lack any weapons, but, on close inspection, it could be seen that the figure had two knives, each one was holstered and strapped to a different thigh. Despite the figure's short, small stature, there was a certain air about them that was . . . intimidating and forbade anyone from drawing near.

The figure silently made its way across the square and over to a sort of tavern. It wasn't the busiest or most famous tavern in all of Aincrad, but it had a rather fair amount of customers daily.

As the door into the tavern opened, the noise inside died down before quickly picking back up again. Some of the customers inside had paused for a moment to see who had entered the establishment, but when they glimpsed the shady figure, they decided it would be in their best interest if they minded their own business.

The figure looked around, warily, before it made its way to the back and sat at a table in the corner. It sat down and leaned against the wall, it stretched its legs straight out, slightly to the side of the table and crossed its arms and ankles, waiting.

A few minutes later, a slightly nervous looking waitress walked up to the table. "Hello! Welcome to the Sake Tavern! What can I get for you today?" The waitress tried her best to say it cheerfully but ended up just showing how intimidated she was by this person.

The figure quickly glanced up at the waitress, slightly amused that she was so intimidated. The low lights inside the tavern quickly illuminated the face under the hood. It was Felicita. Of course, the waitress didn't know that, no one did. Felicita always did her best to keep her identity a secret. As Felicia lowered her face, once again covering it in shadow, the waitress was taken aback by what she saw. It was a young girl. How was it that she found someone so much younger than her to be so . . . frightening?

Felicia quickly gave her order and the waitress rushed off to put it in. The girl in gray looked around at the scene around her. The Sake Tavern. She had been there several times before, but she still found the name amusing as sake did not exist in SAO.

The waitress came around again and dropped off a drink she had on a tray. As she walked away, Felicita took the cup and looked at the dark red liquid inside. It reminded her of wine . . . and slightly of blood too. She slowly swirled it around in the cup before she took a small sip. It tasted sweet, almost fruity._ If only it were alcoholic. _The girl thought with a bitter smile on her face. She was underage and never had alcohol before, but the idea was very appealing to her at that point.

She grimaced as she heard a loud crash from the other side of the room. Of course a fight had to start. _So much for peace and quiet._ Not for the first time that night, Felicita thought about how she would rather be sleeping, but she hadn't eaten in a while and it was starting to affect her. Also, there were some perks to going out into public. She could listen in on people's conversations and gather information. Like now for instance. She stilled herself to listen as a nearby conversation caught her attention.

"Have you heard about it?" a boy was saying to his friend. "If it really does exist, then everyone will be looking for it."

"What are you talking about, Koji?" His friend asked.

Koji leaned in slightly, making Felicita strain to hear him when he spoke again. "There's a rumor going around about something that wasn't in the beta-test." Felicita inconspicuously sipped her cup again.

"Really?" Koji's friend asked, sounding a little skeptical.

Koji nodded. "I've heard that, on Christmas Eve, there's a chance to get a rare item." Felicita's head perked up slightly. This sounded promising.

"Like what?" His friend asked, only half-interested.

Koji quickly looked around before continuing. "A revival item." Felicita froze, her cup halfway to her lips. She barely acknowledged the waitress with a "thank you" as her food was dropped off.

"A revival item?" Koji's friend asked skeptically.

Koji nodded. "Do you think we should try to get it?"

Koji's friend looked at Koji. "It's just a rumor, Koji. It probably doesn't exist. Besides, even if it did exist, some kind of catch must come with it. Think about it, that kind of item in this game?"

Koji's expression fell slightly. "Yeah, you're probably right."

His friend elbowed him. "Hey, we don't need it anyway right?"

Koji shrugged. "I guess . . . but I was kinda just thinking . . . just in case. You know?"

Both boys looked at each other for a moment. Then the friend smiled. "As long as we're careful, we won't need it." Koji smiled back at him. "Come on. Let's go." With that, they both stood up and left.

Long after they were gone, Felicita still sat at her table in the corner, her food barely touched. She was thinking about her possible opportunity at atonement.

* * *

2023/12/24

It was cold on Christmas Eve night in the maze on Floor 35. Snow covered everything, the trees, the ground. It was like a blanket. It was cold, but the only warm clothing Felicita had on was her cloak. She kept the hood up as she walked. Her menu was open so she could refer to the map. She looked around, confusedly. She was sure that she had followed them here, but where were they? They couldn't just disappear.

That's when she heard something. More like sensed it. She glanced behind herself into the darkness of the path she had just come from. Then, she dashed into the shadows of the trees surrounding her and disappeared. Hiding in the darkness behind a tree, she stood absolutely still, watching the path she had just left. She waited there for several minutes.

Finally, after her footprints had disappeared under the freshly fallen snow, she could hear footfalls and the sound of clanking metal. Her body tensed slightly, her hands going to the knives at her sides as figures began to appear. They all wore the same blue and gray armor. They all had swords, and some of them had shields and helmets with visors that covered their eyes. It was the Holy Dragon Alliance.

Felicita smirked to herself. _Guess I got ahead of them._ So she was right. These guys were predictable. They did anything for rare items, no matter how sketchy the info on it was. And with the rumor of this revival item going around, she knew that they would go looking for it. They would lead her straight to it.

The only real problem for her was getting it. She planned on letting them fight for her to get it. For the past month, Felicita had done some digging and discovered that the event boss was Nicholas the Renegade and appeared under a fir tree at midnight. He was supposed to be really powerful. She had originally planned on fighting him alone, but then the idea of following the Holy Dragon Alliance came to mind and she decided against it. Besides, if she died it would be pointless.

She needed that revival item to bring back Seiji. Several things had gone into that decision. When she had first heard about the revival item, she knew it was a key to her atonement. But then a dilemma made her hesitate. _Who should I bring back?_ She had thought long and hard about it. She had loved them both and had been the cause of their deaths. But, there was only one revival item. She had finally decided on Seiji. Felicita wanted, more than anything else in the world to make up with her sister, but Kinade would never forgive Felicita if she chose her to revive instead of Seiji. Seiji was innocent, a child. Kinade always but others before herself, including children.

When Seiji was revived, Felicita planned to return him to the Timber Wolves. He would probably hate her after he learned what had happened that day. Felicita wanted him to be happy and to spend his time with people that loved him and would protect him ten times better than she ever could.

She watched as the players marched passed her, unaware that they had a stalker. She would get that revival item. She didn't care how. She would fight them, steal it from them if she had to. But she would get it and right at least one of her wrongs.

As the Holy Dragon Alliance passed, Felicita stepped out from around her tree to follow them only to be thoroughly confused. They were gone. She looked around. _Where could they have gone off to? They're not fast enough to suddenly be so far ahead of me._ She looked ahead of her, down the path she had been planning to take. She noticed a soft glow coming from a rock up ahead. Suddenly feeling wary, she pulled out her knives, taking one in each hand, and ran forward.

As she got closer to it, she felt herself go through . . . something. Earlier, it had seemed as though nothing was there but air, but now she felt herself pass through something as a white light shone around her.

When the light finally faded, she felt the tense atmosphere. She looked ahead of her and saw the members of the Holy Dragon Alliance that she was following. She wondered why they weren't moving. Then she heard a voice say "Go on! We'll hold them off!" Felicita looked in the direction of the voice. Through the crowd of gray and blue, she saw a flash of red. _Who the hell is that? _

She could hear someone running as she heard feet briefly move across the snow. Then, as the sound of running faded, a fight broke out. As Felicita watched, she noticed that the Holy Dragon Alliance was fighting against a smaller group. There were only a few of them and they were all dressed in red. She began to feel impressed by the red group as they continued to fight the Holy Dragon Alliance members. They held their own pretty well and seemed to be winning.

Then a member of the Holy Dragon Alliance noticed her. He charged and Felicita sighed as she side stepped. He went passed her and she stabbed him in the side where a gap in his armor was. He clutched at it as he turned to look at her.

"Don't force me to kill you." Felicita said tiredly. He roared and charged her again. Seeing no other choice, Felicita did what she had to do. As he came up to her, Felicita crouched. Then, when it looked like he would run into her, she sprang up. With a flash of her knives his head came off. It rolled a small distance away before it shattered, along with the body.

Felicita sighed, her body in a relaxed position. She always tried to avoid killing people but that didn't seem to be working out for her right now.

She turned toward the rest of the fight. She smiled to herself. _Well, I might as well join in. _Then she charged into the fray.

The fighting went on for a while. At first, the guys in red tried to attack Felicita but when she saved one of them who had weird, pink hair and a scruffy chin, they fought alongside her. Felicita wasn't sure why she was helping them. Maybe she would use them to get the revival item instead. There were less of them but they fought better than the group of Holy Dragon Alliance members she was following. Anyway, when she finally made her move to get the revival item, there would be less people for her to fight against.

As the fight progressed and the number of Holy Dragon Alliance members dwindled, some of Felicita's enemies began to flee. Some of them made a strategic, dignified withdrawal while others just dropped their weapons and ran, screaming occasionally.

Felicita and her newly found "allies" tried to avoid killing people, but sometimes, it was unavoidable. They gave them chances to run but they kept coming back so they were inevitably killed. Felicita was relieved when they began to run.

Eventually there was only one left, but he refused to run. He fearlessly stood his ground and continued to fight. It was two against one: the last Holy Dragon Alliance member against Felicita and the guy she had saved earlier. Felicita felt . . . strange, fighting with this man. He was fairly skilled swordsman. He wielded what looked like a katana and he had a bandana tied around his head. The way the worked together in a battle wasn't weird, in fact, they worked pretty well together. Felicita thought about it. Then she put her finger on it. _It's been a long time since if fought _with _someone._

Felicita and her temporary partner circled their opponent. He was pretty big. He held a large, two-handed sword as he watched them. Suddenly, Felicita struck. She dashed in and slashed at him when he had briefly stopped watching her. She was able to scratch him, but he was able to avoid most of the damage by turning his body so the brunt of her blow struck his armor. That's when her partner charged in. He ran up, switching with Felicita, and made it seem like he was going to stab his enemy in the shoulder. That was soon proved to be a feint as he quickly sidestepped and moved his leg to hit his opponent in the back of the leg. This made him fall backwards, leaving him open. As he struggled to catch himself, Felicita switched with her partner and sliced up with one of her knives. She cut the back of her opponent's hand and, as he yelled in pain, he dropped his sword. Before he could blink, Felicita's knives were crossed at his throat. Everyone froze.

Felicita looked into her opponent's eyes and he looked into hers. Both were narrowed. Felicita was daring him to try to continue fighting. He challenged her to kill him. Then, slowly, he put his hands up. Felicita slowly backed away, her body still tense, ready to spring. Her opponent backed up, slowly picked up his sword, and left.

Felicita let out a slow breath as she let her body relax. Her partner sat down with his group in the snow. Felicita looked at them. They were tired, possibly too tired to be of any use to her now.

Felicita turned so that she was sideways to them and addressed the man she just fought with. "Hey." She said, getting his attention. He looked over at her. "What's your name?" she asked him.

He was panting slightly, so it took him a little while to answer. He took a breath "Klein."

"Well, Klein. Thanks for your help." She said as she began to walk away. _Guess I _will_ have to do this on my own._

"Wait!" Klein said abruptly. Felicita stopped in her tracks. After a pause, Klein continued. "Are you going after the revival item?" She didn't answer him. There was another pause. Then Klein asked. "And you're planning to get it by yourself?"

Felicita stood there, not looking at him. "Your point?" she asked in a cold voice.

He raised his voice slightly. "Don't do that! Don't risk your life on something that might not even exist!"

"What's it to you?" Felicita asked, her voice even. "We don't even know each other." Klein didn't say anything, so Felicita began to walk again.

"Wait." Klein said again. When Felicita didn't slow down, he said loudly. "Someone's already in there."

Felicita turned to look at him, curious. "Who?"

Klein hesitated, then said, "A solo player named Kirito."

Felicita was shocked. "Kirito-san?" she said in disbelief.

Klein stared at her. "Do you know him?" he asked.

Felicita nodded slightly and looked up at the giant fir tree where she knew that Nicholas the Renegade would appear. "Why would he be after the revival item?" she wondered aloud. "He's a solo player. What would he want to do with the revival item? He wouldn't go through all that just to sell it." Felicita thought a moment. Then she smirked to herself. "I guess, if it's him, he has a good reason."

She turned and began to walk the way she came. Klein watched her for a moment. She reminded him so much of Kirito. He was saddened by that thought. Both of them seemed so lonely all the time. That's partly what drove him to ask "Hey, girl. What's your name?"

Felicita was slightly confused. How did he know she was a girl? That's when she noticed that her hood had fallen down. Her face gave her away. It's not like her figure would. She was painfully aware of that fact. She stopped briefly and answered him. "Felicita." She said. Then she walked through the barrier around their little clearing.

As she walked, Felicita looked up at the sky. It was still snowing. It was so soft, peaceful, and just beautiful. The girl held out her hand and let some snow land on it. The snowflake stayed only for a moment before it melted on her palm. She smiled up at the sky. _Sorry. _Sadly, the girl walked on and into the darkness of the night.

**A/N: There it is. What'd you guys think? Please follow, favorite, and review. By the way, I am a little sad. No one has left any reviews on my last chapter! I want to know if I broke your puny little hearts. That way I will have something to maniacally laugh at. So yeah, please give me your thoughts!**


	10. Chapter 10: The Shadow Thief

Chapter 10: The Shadow Thief

**A/N: Hello! So here's my next chapter. Be happy, it's not as depressing as some of my other chapters. And let me just say, that my chapter numbers are finally in the double digits! Yay! Enjoy!**

2024/02/23

Lisbeth, a girl with short pink hair wearing a blacksmithing apron, sat under a tree on Floor 32. She glanced down the street one way then the other. She groaned as she sat back down in her chair. _Today's a slow day._ People walked up and down the street, but barely anyone stopped by her booth. She was starting to feel like she wouldn't make it much longer as a blacksmith. That was probably because most famous and well accomplished blacksmiths actually had their own shops on higher floors at this point in the game.

_Well I would too if those crooks hadn't stolen from me last week._ Lisbeth was still bitter on that subject. She could not believe that she had let them get away with some of her materials and over half of the money she had saved up to buy her own shop. Now she had to start over.

Lisbeth was just thinking about packing up her booth and calling it an early day when she heard a voice speak to her. "Hey." It said.

She looked up. Standing in front of her was not a very impressive looking person. They were small and it didn't look like they had a very impressive inventory. It was the middle of the first warm day of the season, yet this person had a dark gray cloak around them, the hood up to conceal their face. Up close though, Lisbeth could see the face under the hood. It was a young girl and, if she had to guess, this girl was younger than her.

Lisbeth studied her for a while before answering. "Hi."

"You're a blacksmith right?" the soft voice asked. Lisbeth nodded. The girl in gray leaned forward onto the edge of the booth with her elbow. "Do you think you have anything that could boost my inventory?"

Lisbeth looked at her suspiciously. Well she _was_ a blacksmith. "Yeah. Sure." She said in a delightful voice. She wasn't sure about this shady girl but she was very desperate for business at the moment. "Let me see what you have."

The girl hesitated before taking off her armor, leaving the clothes she had on underneath, and putting it on the booth in front of her. She felt strangely naked, standing there without her armor on. She guessed it was because she never went anywhere without it.

Lisbeth glanced at the girl in front of her. She was standing there in a pair of black pants and a short sleeved gray shirt, rubbing her arms as if she was cold.

The blacksmith looked down at the armor in front of her. It looked like a normal cloak, metal chest plate, mail shirt, and black, fingerless gloves. But after studying it for a while, something intrigued her. The design on them was intricate. Lines of silver elegantly looped around on the fabric and on the metal. Normal armor would not have something like that.

Using her appraisal skill, Lisbeth identified the armor. She was surprised at what she found: most of it was dark themed. There was the cloak of shadow, gloves of starlight, and a dark chest plate. This type of armor was rare and high in quality. It was light yet very durable.

The pink haired girl looked up at the girl in front of her. "This stuff is rare! Where did you get it?"

The girl in front of the booth avoided the blacksmith's gaze. She shuffled her feet as she answered. "In a dungeon on Floor 51."

Lisbeth's mouth hung open. _This girl went through a dungeon on that high level of a dungeon and survived? She must be tougher than she looks._

"Well that's impressive. Can I see your weapons next?" Lisbeth inquired. The girl in gray nodded and handed over the knives she had strapped to her thighs (which Lisbeth had just noticed) and a one-handed short sword from her inventory.

Lisbeth used her appraisal skill again. The knives were silver knives. They appeared to be similar, but one had a yellow jewel on the hilt and the other had a red one. They were both powerful. The one with the yellow stone was poisoned and had a paralyzing effect while the other one had a burn effect. Along with that, both dealt a significant amount of damage. The sword, however, did not affect the status of a player. It was just very light but very durable.

"Did you get all this stuff in that dungeon?" Lisbeth asked incredulously. The girl in front of her nodded once. The blacksmith sighed. "Well I'm sorry. I don't have anything that can help you at the moment. If you had come last week I could have done something, but . . ." She trailed off, unsure of what to add.

"Why can't you do anything now?" the other girl asked, pulling on her gloves.

Lisbeth sighed and began putting things back into her inventory, deciding to pack up for the day. "Some thieves stole from me last week and took most of my money and quality materials. Now I don't have that much to offer in my services. I don't think I can stay open for much longer."

It was silent for a moment. Lisbeth continued to pack and her mysterious customer put on her mail shirt and chest plate on thoughtfully. "I could help you get it back."

Lisbeth looked up at the girl. Not sure she heard right. "What?"

The girl fastened her cloak around her shoulders and looked at Lisbeth. "I can get it back for you." She repeated.

Lisbeth stared at her for a moment. Then she stood up straight and waved her hands in front of her. "No, no, no! Bad idea!"

The girl cocked her head as she put her sword back into her inventory. "Why?"

"I did some digging and I found out that the thieves who stole from me are in a well-known criminal guild." Lisbeth said seriously.

The girl just looked at her. "So?"

Lisbeth waved her arms in the air. "It would be dangerous to mess with them!"

She slid her knives into her holsters. "It shouldn't be a problem for me. I'll get your stuff and meet you here later at sunset. What guild were they in?"

The blacksmith walked around her booth and looked at the girl before her. "Wait! You can't go by yourself!"

"Well you can't go with me. You'd just slow me down."

"I'll have you know I'm an expert mace user! I'm going with you. Besides, you won't be able to tell what the thieves looked like without me." The girl had her hands on her hips looking to the side. Lisbeth smirked when she knew she had her.

"Fine." The girl said begrudgingly.

Lisbeth smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Lisbeth. I guess we'll be in a party together for a while."

The girl glanced at her hand, then slumped and took it. "I'm Felicita." She introduced herself.

* * *

Later that day, the two girls were walking in the forest on Floor 35.

"What are we doing here again?" Lisbeth asked.

Felicita barely glanced up from the map that she had pulled up in front of her to answer. "I heard that the guild you told me about was hiding out in this forest. You did say the Cercopes Guild right?"

"Yeah." Lisbeth answered. She looked around and thought about how she would never have thought that a guild like that would decide to hide in a forest like this. Then she glanced at her new party member, Felicita. She was satisfied that she had been able to convince her to keep her hood down while they went looking for the Cercopes Guild. She said that she would have felt awkward walking around with her like that, so she hesitantly complied and left it down. Lisbeth thought that Felicita would have been cute if she weren't so distant and intimidating.

Then Lisbeth asked a question that had been nagging at her for a while. "Hey, Felicita-san. Why did you go to me and not one of the other, well-known blacksmiths? They could have gotten you a better deal."

"I don't have the money to spend." Was her terse answer.

"Oh." Was all Lisbeth could think to say. They walked in silence for a while before she asked another question. "Did you tell who you were traveling with that you would be doing this before you came out here? They might be worried."

Felicita continued to look forward as she replied. "I'm solo."

Lisbeth blinked in surprise. "Really?" Felicita nodded. Lisbeth didn't know what to think. This girl seemed really lonely. They walked in silence until Felicita froze. Lisbeth was about to ask her what was wrong until she was pulled aside into the shrubbery nearby. "Wha-?" she began, but Felicita covered her mouth.

The girl in gray looked up, her body still. She seemed to be listening for something. Then she uncovered Lisbeth's mouth and pulled her hood over her head. "That guild is nearby. Stay here." She whispered.

"Wait, why?" Lisbeth whispered frantically.

"No offense but you'd just get in my way."

"But I came with you to help didn't I?"

Felicita hesitated before sighing in defeat and pointed over a bush. "Is that them?"

Lisbeth looked at her, then slowly looked over the top of the bush. "Yeah."

Felicita nodded. "That's all I needed." She said before almost slinking away into the darkness.

"Wait, I'm coming!" Lisbeth whispered loudly, starting to follow Felicita.

Felicita whirled around and glared at Lisbeth. "No you're not! You're staying right here!" she whispered harshly. This surprised Lisbeth and she froze where she crouched. Felicita sighed and put her hand on Lisbeth's shoulder. "You'll be safer if you stay here and that would put my mind at ease." Then she surprised Lisbeth further by smiling at her. Lisbeth was shocked. That was the first time that Felicita had smiled at her and it made her seem . . . kind.

"I'll be right back." Felicita reassured before she disappeared. Lisbeth sat there only for a moment before she began to follow Felicita. She didn't intend to be seen, she just wanted to watch what Felicita would do. The blacksmith crept along until she reached to spot where the thieves were. She stayed hidden in the nearby bushes and surveyed the area.

The thieves were a group of five guys. They all wore dark clothing and they didn't look very clean. They were talking about something, but Lisbeth wasn't really paying attention. She was too busy looking around for Felicita. _Where is she? I don't see her anywhere._

That was when a movement in the trees above the bandits caught her eye. She looked up and was surprised to see Felicita crawling on her belly along a tree branch. _What is she doing?_ Then Lisbeth understood. Felicita was going to try and steal it from them. There were too many to fight so stealing it may be best. They were red players anyway so technically if you committed a crime against them you wouldn't be considered a criminal. But Lisbeth was confused. How did Felicita plan to do this in broad daylight?

Lisbeth craned her neck, trying to watch as Felicita continued to creep along. Then, she saw the girl take a rock that she had in her hand and throw it from her perch in the tree to the bushes down below.

All of the bandits looked in the direction of the sound. "What was that?" One of them asked.

They stared in the direction for a while before another said, "It was probably nothing." By this time though, Felicita had already pickpocketed two of them, a smirk on her face.

Lisbeth cheered silently as she moved around to get a better view. That was when she stepped on a twig. Her heart began to race when she heard the sound. Felicita froze and looked in the direction of the sound. Unfortunately, so had the highwaymen and they all realized it was a girl in the bushes.

"Look what we have here." One of the bandits said as he picked Lisbeth up by the hair. She grunted in pain as she was lifted off of the ground. But before the thief could do or say anything else, he yelled in pain and dropped Lisbeth as Felicita came down with a slash of her blades.

"Felicita-san." Lisbeth said.

Felicita glanced back at her quickly, making sure she was ok, before turning back to the bandits, fury in her eyes.

The bandit she had cut held his now burned arm and glared at her. "Who the hell are you?" he asked angrily. Felicita remained silent, glaring at them all. "You won't answer? Fine. We'll just kill you." He said, pulling out a spear.

He charged Felicita with a growl. Then before he knew it, his spear was snapped in half like a twig and he was stabbed in the arm and he fell paralyzed. She had sidestepped his weapon and slashed her knife upward, snapping it. Then, she was gone. Everyone looked around, on high alert as the rest of the thieves drew their weapons and Lisbeth sat on the ground, her eyes wide.

Then Felicita appeared behind one of the other thieves. She knocked his feet out from under him and slashed him with her paralyzing blade. He fell and Felicita disappeared again before the others could blink. They stared, dumbfounded at the felled thief. Then Felicita dropped from an overhanging branch and knocked the knife out of another thief's hands before stabbing him with her poisoned knife and slashing the one who had raised a sword at her with her other knife. He stumbled away, but not very far before he was paralyzed as well.

Now there was only one enemy left. Felicita stared at him, daring him to attack. He stared at her eyes narrowed. "A girl dressed in darkness." He said. "Two knives as her weapons. A skilled fighter who comes in the night and disappears without a trace. I know who you are now. You're the Shadow Thief!" he said the last sentence with a growl.

Felicita looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "Yes. I am." Then she disappeared and reappeared behind him. He fell forward as she stuck her knife into his back. "Feel honored that I decided to waste my skills on you." She said.

Lisbeth watched in shock as Felicita pickpocketed the rest of the bandits. She came toward Lisbeth and tried to push her back into the forest.

"Feli-?" Lisbeth began.

"Not here!" Felicita hissed as she dragged Lisbeth through the trees.

* * *

"Felicita-san, you're a thief?" Lisbeth asked. Felicita seemed to ignore her as she scrolled through her menu, picking out the things she took from the bandits and sending them to the blacksmith. Lisbeth ignored the pop-up asking her if she would accept the items she was being sent. "Not just any thief, but the _Shadow Thief?"_ she continued, starting to panic having realized she was helping a _famous_ wanted criminal.

Felicita glanced at her. "Yeah. I think that was made very clear a few minutes ago."

Lisbeth glanced above Felicita's head. "Then why is your indicator green?" she asked.

Felicita sighed. "I wait a few days for my indicator to turn green again before going into town."

Lisbeth froze. That meant that Felicita was a red player. Lisbeth usually associated red players with murder guilds. Did that mean that Felicita . . .

"Felicita-san?" Lisbeth asked, slowly backing away. "Do you kill other players?"

Felicita's eyes became wide and she quickly grabbed Lisbeth by the shoulders. "I don't kill people." She said in an urgent tone. "I just steal from them. Nobody dies when I steal from them." She said as if she desperately wanted to get that thought across.

Lisbeth looked at her warily. "Then why did you decide to become a thief?" Felicita's arm dropped and she stepped a few paces away. "You are a skilled fighter. You could join the front lines."

Felicita laughed humorlessly. "That's rich." She said. Then she turned so that she wasn't looking at Lisbeth but Lisbeth could still see her face. "I'm not like you, Lisbeth-san. I don't have a skillset that can help others."

Lisbeth was about to argue that point when she noticed the look on Felicita's face. She was smiling, but her expression still seemed melancholy. Lisbeth began to wonder if Felicita wasn't just talking about the skills in SAO.

The pink-haired blacksmith was about to say something when a voice called out to them.

"Hello over there!" Lisbeth and Felicita whirled around. A young girl with pigtails and what looked like a blue lizard on her shoulder was waving at them. Behind her was a tall woman with red hair and a few other men. _Who is that?_

Lisbeth was about to ask Felicita if she knew when she saw the look on her face. Felicita had gone pale and her body had become rigid.

Felicita stared at the girl. She recognized that girl, how could she not? She pretty much looked to same, the only slight difference was her hair color. It was a more natural shade of brown now. The girl was Silica.

Silica walked up to them. "Are you lost?" She asked. She had a smile on her face until she saw under the hood of Felicita's cloak. "Felicita-san?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Felicita stood there, for a long moment. Her heart seemed to stop beating. Then, she ducked her head, hiding her face in the darkness under her hood, and she began to walk briskly away. Silica took a step forward, as if she wanted to follow her, but seemed to think better of it and stay put. Lisbeth was confused. She looked from Silica to Felicita for a moment before she ran to catch up with Felicita.

"Hey." She said as she finally drew up to Felicita matching her strides. "Do you know that girl?"

"Are you going to upgrade my inventory or not?" she asked, her voice shaking, avoiding the subject.

Lisbeth paused. For some reason this girl was affecting her. She was so sad. She wanted to help her. The blacksmith took a breath before continuing. "Yes. I have enough materials to upgrade your equipment. I'll even do it for free, but on one condition."

"What's that?" Felicita asked as she glanced at Lisbeth.

"That from this point on, I become your exclusive blacksmith."

Felicita stopped in her tracks and looked at Lisbeth incredulously. "You want to be the infamous Shadow Thief's exclusive blacksmith?"

Lisbeth nodded. "You come to me for all your equipment needs and I'll give you the best deals you will ever be offered."

Felicita looked at her suspiciously. "Why would you do that? How do I know that you won't just turn me in?"

"Well, because I think you're a good person." Lisbeth replied, looking at the ground. "I mean, you're a thief and all, but I won't turn you in. You still helped me get my stuff back so this is the least I can do to repay you." She said before looking up. "Just know that if you steal from me, it's off." She said this last part sternly.

Felicita looked at her. It didn't seem like she'd say anything at first. Then she laughed and held out her hand. "Alright, Lisbeth-san. You have yourself a deal." Lisbeth smiled and took her new client's hand and they shook on it.

**A/N: There. What did you guys think? Please review, follow, etc. if you haven't done so already. You would make me so happy if you did and, just so you know, my happiness makes the world go round so making me happy is advised. Also, if any of you out there are interested I now have a story up based on Ouran High School Host Club so please check that out. Don't worry about updates though. I will try to balance it out between that story and this one. Have a nice day and see you next update . . . I hope . . . if anyone is still reading this.**


	11. Chapter 11: A Tempting Offer?

Chapter 11: A Tempting Offer?

**A/N: Ok, here's chapter 11. This definitely took longer than I thought it would to write, but I have been planning it for a while so I wanted it to be perfect. Things are about to pick up so enjoy!**

2024/04/03

Felicita was woken up by a ringing sound. She groaned softly as she opened one eye, letting her see the flashing, orange message alert responsible for her interrupted nap. She sighed as she sat up on her tree branch, slightly annoyed. She was just in the middle of an extremely enjoyable nap and she did not like being so rudely awakened. That was all she was doing nowadays anyway, either sleeping, eating, or stealing. Of course, she did all of these things in places where no one would find her, which explains why she was in a tree.

The thief decided that she may as well read the damn thing since she was already awake. She tapped the icon and looked the message over. What she read made her heart sink.

_Hey! Great news, I finally got the shop! Get over here and check it out. It's really awesome!_

_-Lisbeth _

Felicita closed the message and sat back against the tree. She was not looking forward to what she had to do next.

* * *

A little while later, Felicita had teleported to Floor 48, the place Lisbeth had decided to set up shop. The Shadow Thief kept her hood up as she walked. Her indicator was green today, but she still didn't want to risk people seeing her face. She walked along the streets and through the crowds until she finally reached a building with a sign over the door that said "Lisbeth's Smith Shop."

She paused at the entrance, staring up at the sign. She did not want to go inside. She didn't want to have to do what she was about to. Eventually she sighed and pushed the door open, deciding that it had to be done.

A bell rang as the door swung inward. Felicita had barely stepped inside when a cheerful voice greeted "Welcome to Lisbeth's Smith Shop!"

Felicita took her hood down and looked up. Lisbeth was standing before her, a large smile on her face and her hands on her hips. "You finally made it!" she said.

"Yeah." Felicita answered.

"Well take a look around. What do you think?"

Felicita did as she was told. It wasn't a bad looking shop. A variety of weapons was displayed in the room. Some were hanging from the walls while others were safely shown in display cases. "It's nice. Uh, Lisbeth-."

"Just wait until you see the back. I have everything I need back there to make all kinds of things!" Lisbeth was already walking through a door by a counter in the back.

Felicita sighed and followed her. She walked through the door and was greeted by a bunch of blacksmithing equipment that she couldn't name. She was slightly impressed by it.

"See? With all this stuff I can upgrade your equipment even more." Lisbeth said excitedly as she grandly gestured around the room.

"Lisbeth-."

"And I can make a bigger profit with what I can do now."

"Lisbeth!"

Lisbeth stopped and looked at Felicita. "Yeah?"

Felicita couldn't look at her, so she looked down at the ground. "This is great and all, and I'm really happy for you, but I won't be coming to see you anymore."

Lisbeth froze and looked at the thief in front of her. "What? Why?"

The smaller girl continued to look at the ground, thinking about what she had to say. Finally, she took a breath and looked the pink-haired blacksmith in the eye. "When we first met, and you asked me why I came to you and not another blacksmith, I didn't tell you the whole reason." Lisbeth didn't say anything, so she continued. "I didn't have a lot of money, but also, I couldn't risk going to see a well-known blacksmith because it would have been more likely for me to be caught. It was safe to see someone like you because it was less likely that you would interact with the big guilds like the Knights of the Blood Oath. And now that you have your own shop . . ." Felicita trailed off.

"It's a sign that I'm like those famous blacksmiths, huh?" Lisbeth finished.

Felicita nodded. "Also, I've recently seen the second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath visit you."

"You saw?" Lisbeth asked. Honestly, she had a feeling that the thief would do something like this so she tried to keep the fact that Asuna the Lightning Flash was seeing her regularly a secret.

"Yeah. If anyone knew you were helping me, you'd be in trouble." The girl in gray said as she glanced at the ground and subconsciously fingered one of her knives. "This is goodbye, Lisbeth." Then Felicita turned and began to walk toward the exit.

Lisbeth stood there, not sure what to do. Felicita had only come to see her about four times since they had first met. Lisbeth was not ready to let her go yet. She still wanted to help her. The only problem was the girl wouldn't open up to her.

"Wait!" Lisbeth yelled, running through the door and into the main part of her shop. Felicita was already halfway through the door, her hood up. She stopped on her way out and looked at her former blacksmith expectantly. Lisbeth wanted to call her back and convince her to come back again sometime. But looking at her, Lisbeth could tell that, no matter what she said, Felicita would leave and never come back. The blacksmith couldn't bring herself to say what she was going to a moment ago, so instead she stood straight, her hands by her sides and said something else. "If . . . if you really are leaving. Then be safe, promise me. Promise that you will survive . . . until the end."

Felicita looked at Lisbeth for a moment. She considered promising. But she was an infamous thief after all. Her chances at survival were slim. So Felicita smiled, a fake smile that she hoped Lisbeth would think was real.

As Felicita left, Lisbeth couldn't help but feel saddened at the deadness in Felicita's eyes and the smile she knew was fake that was plastered onto her face.

Felicita paused right outside the door. Then made her way to the square where she could teleport to another floor. She couldn't help but feel a small amount of regret over what she had done. In truth, she had liked Lisbeth. She was cheery all the time, which caused a small smile to appear on the thief's face whenever Lisbeth wasn't looking. It had also been nice to actually have a connection to another human being without having to say that the connection had been she was another victim that she had stolen from at one point.

Felicita arrived at a different floor's teleportation gate. She wasn't sure what floor it was, she hadn't really been paying attention when she had said the name of the place she chose to go. Felicita sighed. It didn't really matter anyway, she just wanted to take a nap.

She wandered through the town, avoiding other people's gazes until she reached the edge of the safe zone. Then she continued into the surrounding woods. When she thought she was a good distance in, she looked around for a suitable tree to rest in. She spotted a good one with lots of high branches for cover. Setting her eyes on a particularly stable looking branch, Felicita took a few steps back. Then, she took a running start and jumped. It was a good jump, it got her to the lowest branch, which was very far off of the ground. She grabbed the branch with both hands and swung up, allowing her to land in a crouch on the branch that she had had her eye on earlier.

There was still daylight out, but with the dense foliage, the light was greatly subdued. The Shadow Thief took out a spare cloak that she had in her inventory, balled it up, and put it behind her head as she sat against the trunk of the tree. She closed her eyes, wanting to shut everything out. Felicta liked sleeping. It kept her from thinking, especially about reality. As long as she wasn't having a nightmare, Felicita was at her happiest in her sleep. She could dream, or think nothing at all, at least it would momentarily release her from the nightmare of Sword Art Online. The thief sighed and, eventually, she fell asleep.

* * *

Felicita's eyes flew open. In a flash, her knives were in her hands as she crouched into a ready position on her branch. Her eyes darted around at the silent darkness around her. The sun was setting, so not much light could get through the leaves around her. Felicita wasn't sure what had woken her up, but she had sensed something as if something was watching her.

Felicita quickly put her spare cloak into her inventory and continued to look around her. Her body was tense and her heart and mind were racing. She couldn't help but feel like the scared little girl she had been when she was in the Timber Wolves guild.

Eternity seemed to drag by as Felicita crouched there, waiting. She was considering pulling out one of her teleportation crystals when a knife flew past her cheek and embedded itself into the bark on the trunk of the tree. That was when Felicita sprung out of her hiding place. She had to move.

She jumped from her perch and headed toward the ground below her. As she was about to crash, she positioned her body so that her shoulder hit first and she rolled. She didn't wait for the roll to stop, she just used the momentum to allow herself to run faster. She ran swiftly and silently through the woods, just as she always did when making off with a good steal, only this time she was running for her life.

As Felicita came across a clearing, she thought she was home free. Then she quickly realized she was wrong as figures appeared from the surrounding trees, closing her in. She was forced to stop and watch, ready to defend herself, as the figures came closer to her, threatening weapons in hand. They were all wearing cloaks like hers, only theirs were frayed at the bottom.

Theirs hoods were up, but despite that, Felicita expected to see some of their faces with the little light they had. She tried glancing under their hoods, but realized that they all had masks on.

"Well, hello there, Shadow Thief." Felicita looked up, toward the low, cold voice that addressed her. _How do they know who I am? _A single figure, stepped forward, away from the rest. She could tell he was male by his figure. "It's so nice to see you." The voice said. "We were just looking for you."

The voice made her shiver, but she tried to hide that as she said, coldly. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" she held her knives up, ready to attack, even though she knew it would be pointless to try. There were so many of them.

The figure chuckled. He was the only one not threatening her with a weapon. Wordlessly, he put his fist up, showing her the back of his hand. As her eyes focused on his glove, blood froze. The symbol of the murder guild, Laughing Coffin, was stitched into the fabric.

"You want to kill me." Felicita said. Her heart seemed to race as she watched him.

The man put his hand down and continued to speak. "No. Not exactly." He began to walk slowly and casually around her. "We've been watching you for a while, Shadow Thief, and we've noticed that you have some . . . talents that we find interesting." He circled her, his hands behind his back.

She watched him, cautiously, while also keeping in mind the other Laughing Coffin members. "What do you want from me?" she asked.

"Well isn't that obvious?" the man asked, putting his hands out, as if to ask her, before putting them back behind his back. "We want to recruit you." Felicita didn't know how to react to that. _A murder guild wants to recruit me? _"You must be wondering 'why should I join Laughing Coffin?'" The man continued. "Well, why don't you think of it this way? Essentially, you are a red player, correct? This makes you like us." He said, gesturing to his guild mates. "You don't belong anywhere except with your own kind." By his tone, Felicita could tell that he was smiling. "With us, you will have protection and you won't be alone, fending for yourself. You'll have a home, with people who won't judge you. Doesn't that sound nice?" he asked her. Felicita had been so focused on his words that she hadn't noticed that he was close enough to touch her. She shivered as he was now behind her whispering into her ear. "Well?" she didn't say anything. She was frozen in place, too afraid to move. "Hm." He said, stepping slightly away from her. "I know that you have been given a lot to think about, so we will come back for your answer. We sincerely hope that you will join us." The figure stepped farther away from her and gave a signal to his comrades. They put their weapons down. "Come into this clearing again when you have your answer." He said. Then he began to walk away. The others followed him, though one seemed to linger for only a moment before doing the same.

When they were gone, Felicita couldn't support herself any longer. Her knees gave out and she fell onto them, making herself sit on her calves. She had been so afraid and now she was afraid and pissed that she was so afraid. She had tried so hard to rid herself of that annoying emotion called fear, but it kept coming back.

The girl hugged herself as she felt herself shaking. She thought for sure that she was going to die. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. When her heart rate finally slowed, Felicita stood up. Her legs were still slightly shaky, but she knew she wouldn't fall again. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't get what just happened out of her head. Was it really true, did she only belong with criminals and murderers now?

Felicita shook her head, she didn't want to think about it right now, her head was still swimming and she couldn't focus. She tried to think of what to do. She considered sleeping, but she doubted that she would calm down enough to fall asleep. Then she decided she might as well steal something. She was always focused when she was in the middle of stealing from people. She was always calm and collected. Maybe in that state she could sort things out.

Then, when it occurred to her that that was what Laughing Coffin wanted from her, she smiled sadly to herself. She pulled up her map and took note that she was on Floor 31 and to avoid this place at all costs. Then she decided to walk into town and go to another floor to do her stealing. Felicita did her best to keep her mind blank as she walked into town. Before she knew it, she had reached the teleportation platform she had arrived on earlier. She only half paid attention to the place she said to go. It was somewhere on Floor 54.

Felicita appeared in the square of a town. Not many people were out and about. Of course, that was to be expected, the moon was up. The thief decided to go look for a victim in the forest. She didn't trust herself to steal from someone in town right now, she might screw up and get caught in the mental state she was in. Of course, she might get caught in the forest too, but there, she was less likely to run into someone who could overpower her and turn her in.

The Shadow Thief walked to the edge of town and into the trees beyond. When she was deep enough in, she activated her stealth skill. She had a great deal of pride in this skill, for she had almost maxed it out. She crept along, always keeping herself hidden among the shadows. She didn't care if she ran into a player or an NPC, there was almost always one or the other in the forest whenever she went "hunting."

Eventually, she sensed someone among the trees. She crept along until she was hiding behind a tree behind the person. She peeked around the trunk to look at her target. Felicita was pretty sure it was a male. He was wearing a dark coat and was sitting on a log by a lantern. From what she saw, it didn't look like he had much on him, of course, neither did she and that was deceiving.

Felicita smiled, it looked like she would have it easy. She began to devise a plan on how best to pickpocket him without him noticing. She had barely finalized her plan when she heard a voice. "Who's there?"

The thief tensed. The voice had come from behind her, where the boy had been sitting. Shock was all she felt for a moment. How could he have detected her with her level of stealth? He must have had a really high detection skill.

Felicita could sense that he was moving in her direction, so she quietly jumped into the branches of her tree. She hid among the foliage and looked down. She saw a glimpse of movement in the spot she had just been in. "I know you're still here. Come out." She most certainly would not! Not after what she had just been through. As the boy walked away, Felicita decided that she should just go find a victim somewhere else, this boy was obviously not going to be easy.

She was about to pull out a teleportation crystal when something heavy knocked her down. It fell with her as they plummeted out of the tree. Felicita closed her eyes as they hit the ground, but didn't stop there. They rolled several feet before they came to a stop. What had knocked her down had turned out to be a person, the boy. He was now pinning her down, holding a cold sword tip to Felicita's throat. With her eyes still closed, Felicita waited for the boy to strike her. The strike never came.

"Felicita-san?"

How did her know her name. Felicita opened her eyes and looked up. "Kirito-san?" she asked in a confused tone.

**A/N: *gasp* Kirito's back and Laughing Coffin wants to recruit our favorite thief! How will this turn out? Find out next time! While you're waiting, please favorite, review, and follow. Tell me how I did on conveying emotion in this chapter because I'm a little worried. A review containing your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Like I said, things will be picking up so look forward to the next few chapters.**


	12. Chapter 12: Confrontation

Chapter 12: Confrontation

**A/N: Ugh! This chapter is finally finished. Yay! I'm a little nervous about it though. I've had the majority of this chapter in my head since the beginning. I hope I did alright. Anyway, please read and keep an open mind too. Try to be understanding.**

Kirito and Felicita stared at each other in surprise for a long moment. Then, when Felicita was starting to feel uncomfortable, she cleared her throat. Kirito blinked. Then his eyes widened when he realized that they were on the ground and he was on top of her. "Sorry!" he said quickly, getting up. He sheathed his sword and quickly dusted himself off before offering a hand to Felicita. The girl hesitated before taking it. He pulled her up and they stood there for a few seconds, not looking at each other.

Kirito looked at the ground before quickly glancing at the girl beside him. Something was . . . different. Could this really be the girl that had assured him that she liked him knowing that he was a "beater?"

"Sorry, again." Kirito said, awkwardly. "For that" he said, referring to what just happened "and for attacking you. I didn't know it was you."

Felicita seemed to hesitate before offering him a small smile. "It's not entirely your fault. I guess I'd be suspicious too if a dark figure snuck up behind me."

Kirito chuckled softly. "So, do you want to sit with me?" He asked, gesturing to the place where his lantern still sat.

Felicita hesitated again. "Sure." They went over and sat down, each on their own log. The two sat in awkward silence for a moment.

"So," Kirito began slowly. "What are you doing out here?"

Felicita didn't want to tell him that she had planned to steal from him so she told him a half-truth. "Oh, I couldn't sleep so I decided to just come out here. What about you?"

"I was out here planning on earning some exp." Kirito said with a shrug. "So how have you been? How are the Timber Wolves?"

Felicita felt like that last question had punched her in the gut. _Kirito doesn't know. _Now that she thought about it, _she_ didn't her cloak, Felicita tightly grasped one of her knives, not in preparation to fight but just in an attempt to keep herself together. "I'm doing well." Felicita answered, trying not to say it through her teeth. "As for the Timber Wolves . . ."

"What?" Kirito asked after a pause. He knew that it was weird that she had shown up alone.

Felicita couldn't bring herself to tell him so she said "We haven't exactly . . . talked . . . in a while." _Well at least that wasn't a lie._

Kirito looked at her for a moment. Something didn't seem right. Was she in a fight with her guild right now? Had something happened?

Felicita wanted to quickly change the subject. "So what about you, Kirito-san? How have you been?"

Kirito didn't want to let his suspicion go, but he smiled and answered. "Not bad, actually."

". . . Are you still solo?"

Kirito laughed nervously. "For the most part."

Felicita cocked her head quizzically. "For the most part?"

"Yeah. A certain friend of mine hasn't been leaving me alone recently." Felicita just looked at him, as if prompting him to continue. Kirito sighed. "Well, last month, she and I solved a mystery of murders in a safe zone. Ever since then, she's been nagging me to make friends and stop playing solo."

Felicita smiled. "Hm. Well she seems like a nice friend." She thought for a moment before continuing. "And it sounds like you've been busy, 'murders in a safe zone?'" She had heard a rumor about that. Of course she had, she was a criminal, but she hadn't believed it until now.

Kirito stood up and stretched. "Yeah, that's a long story. Anyway, about gaining some exp.," he glanced over at the girl next to him as he asked. "Do you want to come?" Normally, he would have done things like this on his own, but he really wanted to get to the bottom of what had happened with the Timber Wolves guild.

Felicita was surprised at his offer. She was so surprised, that she agreed to come before she knew what she was saying. "Sure, but only if you tell me all about your little murder mystery."

* * *

The two solo players ended up talking and fighting monsters together that night. They didn't talk about anything personal, Kirito felt that if they went there now, Felicita might run away. She was already a little awkward in this situation as it was.

The girl in question felt weird, roaming the forest with a guy she barely knew. She wasn't used to this sort of thing, but it seemed like he was and that relaxed her, if only slightly.

"So, they used teleport crystals to disappear and used up their armors' durability to make it look like they had died?" Felicita asked, wanting to clarify.

"Yep." Said the swordsman beside her.

"That's genius." Felicita said, marveling. "And that Grimlock guy . . ."

"Manipulated the whole thing to cover up what he had done." Kirito finished for her.

They were silent for a moment. "So, what happened to him?" the girl asked.

Kirito shrugged. "Don't know, but I'm sure he's not dead. He's probably just in one of the major guild's prisons."

"Oh." They walked for a while, not saying anything.

"You hear that?" Kirito whispered. Felicita stopped and listened. She nodded when she could make out a rustling sound. The two of them crept toward a pair of trees and hid behind them. The swordsman peeked around his tree, then looked at his companion and held up one finger, saying that there was only one enemy. He pointed to himself, asking if he could attack first. Felicita nodded. This had become their system, even though they never openly discussed what their system would be.

Kirito drew his sword and Felicita took out her knives. They came out from behind their trees to face what looked like a Minotaur. It was facing away from them until they stepped out. When it noticed them, its eyes glowed red and it bellowed. The monster and Kirito charged each other at the same time. The bull man swept its horns down to hit Kirito, but the swordsman was quick to dodge. He sidestepped and slashed upward, cutting the Minotaur across the chest. It reared as Kirito dashed back, leaving room for Felicita to switch with him. She did so and rushed the monster. By then it had recovered and charged at her. She ducked its arm's downward swing and just as it seemed like the bull man would run her over, she straightened and slashed upward, knocking it over backward. In a finishing move, she jumped high and stuck both knives into the monster's chest, causing it to shatter.

Kirito watched, impressed with Felicita's skills. She was really good, though, he wasn't surprised at all. He had seen her potential in the jungle when they first met.

Felicita ignored the item drop window that popped up and sheathed her knives. Kirito did the same with his sword and clapped. "Bravo." He said. Felicita looked at him as he walked over. "Well, I think that's enough for one night. Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Uh . . ." Felicita could only make that sound. Of course she didn't.

Kirito smiled. "Well, I do have a place, but I think I'll just stay at an inn nearby. I don't feel like traveling. You should too."

Felicita thought about it. She didn't want to, someone might recognize her clothes in town and they'd turn her in. But then again, she didn't want to sleep by herself in a tree outside of the safe zone. She was still scared that Laughing Coffin might show up. She sighed mentally, not seeing any other option. "Sure, that sounds good." She said.

* * *

Felicita followed Kirito into town and they ended up staying at the same inn. It was the only one with available rooms so they couldn't afford to be picky.

The Shadow Thief was now sitting in her room on her bed. Since she was staying in a safe zone for the first time in a while, she decided to store her armor and her knives in her storage and just sit on her bed in normal clothing. She laid back on it, marveling at how soft and comfortable it was. When was the last time that she had slept in a bed?

She heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me." She heard Kirito's voice. She went over and opened the door. He had stored his coat and sword away too and was in dark clothing similar to hers. "Do you mind if I come in?" he asked. "I thought you might be hungry so I got some food."

Felicita was surprised. "Uh, sure." She said, stepping aside to let him in. "But you didn't have to get me dinner. Do you want me to pay you back?"

Kirito shook his head as he opened his menu and selected some things, making them appear in his hand so he could put them down on the wooden table in the center of the room. "No. You don't have to pay me. Just think of this as a meal between friends."

The girl stood there for a few moments before shrugging and sitting down at the table across from where Kirito now sat. At first, they ate in silence. Felicita just looked at her food while she ate and Kirito stared out the window, his legs crossed and one arm over the back of his chair. Eventually he sat normally and looked across the table at Felicita.

"So tell me," He said, "what did you guys do after I left that day?"

Felicita froze, then put her food down. Not looking up at him, she answered. "Well, Seiji joined us, just like we planned. Then we got back and my sister almost killed us before she broke down."

Kirito nodded like he understood. "What about after that?"

Felicita fingered her shirt under the table. "Not much happened." She lied. "We just continued to fight so we could level up and get col. Eventually, we got enough money to buy our own house. We even went on a vacation soon after that."

"Hm." Kirito made that noise as he thought. From what she said, things sounded good with the Timber Wolves. But obviously something was not right. This girl was hiding something from him. Why was Felicita away from her guild now? There had to be a good reason. She had seemed so close with her guild when he had left. "Where are they now?" He finally asked. "Why aren't you with them? Are you just having a disagreement?"

The girl looked at the floor. "You could say that."

Kirito sat forward. "Well what are you doing here? You should try to make up with them."

Felicita continued to look away from him. "It's not that simple."

Kirito stood up, making his chair scoot noisily backward. "How is it not simple?" he asked. "You guys are close right? You care for each other. If you don't come clean with them you will probably regret it. Think about your sister."

"I can't talk to her." _Literally._

"Well then what about Ryner-san? I thought you liked him."

"It's too late for that now."

"No it's not. Think about Seiji, Riku-san. I could tell that you all were good friends, or at least would be." He had now come around the table, trying to make Felicita look at him. She was being too evasive. "Don't throw that away."

Felicia had tried to block him out, she wanted him to stop, to shut up, his words were bringing about memories of people that she had tried to forget for so long. The memories hurt, like a knife in her chest, and with each word that Kirito said, he was twisting the knife, driving it deeper and deeper . . .

Felicita abruptly stood up, her mental state shattered. Kirito looked into her face. It was blank, no emotion was displayed at all. It seemed as if no one was inside of her, she was hollow.

"Please stop talking." She said softly, in a flat tone. Kirito couldn't help but stare at her. Something was definitely wrong. She walked up to him, she came so close to him that their faces were inches away from each other. Then without warning, she pushed him. Kirito was surprised that she was strong enough to do so. Then, when he felt the back of his leg hit something, she roughly shoved him back and he fell onto her bed.

As he fell, he hit his head against the wall and he cringed in pain. When he finally opened his eyes, Felicita was standing over him, beside the bed. He stared at her in shock, realizing what she was about to do. Even so he asked. "Felicita-san . . . what are you doing?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she got on the bed, kneeling next to him. "Felicita-san." He said again. She still didn't answer as she sat on top of his stomach, one leg on either side of him. She couldn't hear him. Only one thing was registering in her mind, her desperate desire to forget everything.

Kirito began to say the girl's name again, trying to get her to snap out of it, when her hand suddenly slipped under his shirt. He shivered as her fingers began to absently trace designs on his skin. "Please stop talking." She said again in monotone, her body leaning forward. Kirito looked into her face again. It was still blank, emotionless. He looked into her eyes. They seemed to be blank too . . . except . . . He looked into them, deeper, something was different about them. He could barely see it, but they seemed to be pleading with him.

Felicita leaned forward, as if to kiss him. "Don't talk." She whispered.

"Felicita-san!" Kirito grabbed her shoulders as he loudly said her name. He stared into her eyes, praying that she would come to her senses. They laid like that for what seemed like forever to Kirito. He held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.

Kirito's touch seemed to allow his voice to reach Felicita. Slowly, her eyes lost their blank look and she became aware of what was going on. Kirito was relieved when he saw her almond-colored eyes brighten, as if she were waking from a trance.

The girl stared down at the boy under her, at first, confused at what was happening. Then, her eyes widened with horror as she realized what she had been about to do to him. She slowly got off of Kirito and off of the bed. Her hands went to her mouth and her eyes glistened with tears. She walked backwards, still watching Kirito as he sat up, watching her. Felicita didn't get very far before her knees gave out and she sat on her calves. _What kind of person have I become?_

That thought was like a trigger. Just a Felicita thought it, she immediately broke-down. "I'm sorry." She said as she sobbed into her hands. "I'm sorry. You probably hate me now."

Kirito watched the girl as she cried. He didn't hate her, he just felt sorry for her. He had seen the many things that Sword Art Online had reduced people to. Felicita was no different from the number of people whose lives were destroyed by this death game.

Kirito swung his legs onto the floor and stood up. He reached behind him and pulled the blanket off of the bed. He looked at the girl as he made his way over. Gently, he put the blanket around her shoulders. Felicita looked up at him, shocked by his act of kindness. She had at least expected him to slap her. Kirito looked into her eyes again. This time, he saw pain, fear, and most of all, remorse.

Gingerly, he picked her up, bridal style, and sat her on the bed. Then he sat next to her and waited for her to calm down. When she finally did and started to hiccup, he softly said. "Please tell me what happened. I want to help you." Felicita sat there quietly. Then, after deciding that she had been running away long enough, she began to tell him everything.

* * *

Kirito sat there, stunned at what he had just heard. He had sat quietly through the whole thing, but with great difficulty. She had told him _everything_, some of it with tears streaming down her face_. _From what happened after he left to what happened just before he had knocked her out of the tree. Now he knew that Seiji and Kinade were dead, Felicita was the infamous Shadow Thief, she had been given an invite into Laughing Coffin, and everything in between. This girl had been alone for the past six months, keeping all of that in until she cracked under the pressure. Her life had gone so far downhill.

Felicita just sat there. She was shaking slightly. She had just poured out everything that had been haunting her to this boy. She was now nervously wondering how he would react. Then to her surprise, he hugged her. "Wha-?" she began.

"I'm sorry." Kirito said, so softly that Felicita almost didn't hear.

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked, confused.

Kirito pulled away. He looked down at the ground, his hair shielding his eyes from the girl next to him. "Everything is my fault." He said.

Felicita just looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Kirito firmly grasped his hands in his lap. "Maybe . . . if I had joined your guild when you had asked me to . . . I could have helped you. Then things wouldn't have ended up this way."

The girl looked at him before vigorously shaking her head. "No. It's not your fault. You didn't know that it would happen. None of us did." She looked down at her hands. "Besides, you had your own reason for not joining us. I can respect that."

Kirito's body tensed. He felt hesitant to tell her, but he felt that Felicita had the right to know exactly why he hadn't joined the Timber Wolves. "The reason I gave you, for not joining, wasn't really the real reason why." Felicita looked at him in confusion before he continued. "Some time before I met you guys, I was with this guild named 'The Moonlit Black Cats.' You kinda reminded me of them. They were always so close. Anyway, I joined them, but I didn't tell them what level I was or that I was a beater. We fought together for a while, they wanted to buy their own house too. One day, they had enough money, so their leader went to a higher floor to go buy it. The others wanted to go into a higher level dungeon to get drops and col. I tried to tell them not to but they didn't listen." Kirito paused, took a breath, and continued. "We went and found a hidden room. Inside was a treasure chest. I told them not to go in, but they did, anyway. That was when the door closed behind us. Then, enemies appeared around us. Teleport crystals wouldn't work so we tried to fight them. Of course, everyone else was on a lower level than me. I watched them all die. When their leader came back, I told him what happened and the truth about who I was. I could tell he was devastated. He told me that I had never belonged with them. Then . . . he jumped to his death."

Felicita looked at him. His voice shook near the end of his story. No wonder he hadn't joined them. He was afraid. It was her turn to hug him.

She put the blanket around them both and hugged him around the middle. He seemed surprised and hesitated before he put an arm around her. "I'm sorry that happened to you." Felicita said softly.

There was a pause before he said. "Same to you." They sat like that for a while, in silence. It wasn't awkward anymore, it was more like they were happy to know someone who knew what they felt.

Finally, after a while, Felicita spoke up. "Is it ok if I don't call you 'Kirito-san?'"

Kirito smirked. "Only if I can call you 'Fel.'"

Felicita smiled. "Fair enough." She thought about it. "How about 'Kirito-kun?'"

"Fine."

"Just so you know, _Kirito-kun._ I still don't think of you romantically." This was true. She didn't. Kirito reminded her a lot of Kinade. She felt that he was almost like her brother.

Kirito chuckled. "I wasn't thinking that you did."

"Just making sure."

They sat like that for most of the night. Eventually, Kirito noticed that Felicita's arms slackened and her head fell into his lap. She had fallen asleep. He smiled to himself before lifting her up and laying her on her pillow. He placed the blanket over her and watched her for a minute. She looked so peaceful, and she reminded him a lot of Suguha, his sister. This thought just hardened his resolve to beat this game even more. Felicita didn't deserve what happened to her. No one deserves anything like what she experienced. It was all Sword Art Online's fault. It was all Akihiko Kayaba's fault. He wanted to beat the game so that people like Felicita could be free.

With this in mind, he sat on the foot of the bed, his back against the wall. Then, without meaning to, he fell asleep.

* * *

Felicita woke up the next morning to sunlight streaming through her window. She felt . . . strange, but a good strange. She felt light and happy. She stretched her arms and legs out contentedly, then stopped when her foot touched something. Curious, she sat up to see Kirito asleep on the foot of her bed. _What the heck is he doing there? _Reaching behind her, Felicita grabbed her pillow. Then, she threw it at him. The pillow struck him in the chest and he sat up, startled.

"What?" he said groggily.

"What are you doing sleeping there?" Felicita asked. He looked around him, as if he just noticed something interesting before he shrugged. "That's not a good place to sleep. It's uncomfortable and bad for your back. Next time go to your own bed."

Kirito sighed as he stood up. "Yes, mother." He said tiredly.

"Don't 'yes, mother' me!" She said, blushing slightly.

Kirito smirked. "Yes, mother." Felicita reached for her bedside lamp and threw it at him. He calmly caught it just before it hit him in the face. He looked around it at her. "You really are violent." She just made a "hmph" sound in response and crossed her arms. Kirito laughed before becoming serious. "So what do you plan to do now? You shouldn't keep stealing from players who work hard every day to make their living."

Felicita slumped forward. "Yeah, I know." She sat there thinking. Then she said. "I won't steal from normal players anymore. I'll only steal from criminal ones."

Kirito looked at her. "But what else? Just stealing is a waste of your talents."

"I don't know." She answered after a moment. "But I'll eventually figure it out."

"Do you want my help?"

Felicita shook her head. "No. You've done so much for me already. Because of you, I'm confronting my past. I'm not running away anymore. You were right about my guild. I don't want to waste what we had, so I want to make up with what's left of them."

Kirito smiled. "That sounds like a plan. Well I guess we can leave together."

* * *

About an hour later, Felicita was walking with Kirito toward the teleportation gate in town. Both of them had re-equipped their armor and weapons. They had said good-bye and Kirito was about to teleport when he stopped, remembering something.

"Wait." He said. Puzzled, Felicita watched as he pulled up his menu and selected a few things. Then a friend request from him appeared in front of her.

She stared at it, then looked up at him. "You want to friend me? But I practically assaulted you." She looked at the ground when she said that. She still felt bad about it, even though she had done it during a mental breakdown.

"Of course," Kirito said, now in front of her. "After all that was said last night you expect us to remain acquaintances?" Felicita looked at him before giving him a small smile and accepting his request.

Kirito smiled as he put his hand on top of her head. "Be safe, ok? Message me if you need anything."

Felicita looked up at him and gave a bright smile, the first one that she had worn on her face in ages. "I will."

Kirito took his hand away then waved. "See you around." Felicita waved back as he teleported. Then, she thought about what to do next. She wanted to find the Timber Wolves but she wasn't sure how to go about doing it. She could send them a friend request and find them that way, but she wasn't so sure that they would accept. She sighed, realizing that she would have to go around and ask people if they had seen her guild. She began to walk through the streets, her hood up. Even though she had given up stealing, other people didn't know that, so she still needed to be careful.

As she walked, Felicita noticed something odd. It seemed like someone was following her. She glanced through the crowd but couldn't see anyone suspicious. Even though she couldn't see them, she _knew _that someone was following her, her detection skill at least told her that much. She decided to face this stalker of hers and go where there were no people around. The thief made her way through the town and to the outskirts where the safe zone ended. A little ways down the road, she leaned against a tree and waited.

She didn't have to wait long until she saw two people making their way toward her. Felicita was surprised when she saw that they wore the red and white uniform of the Knights of the Blood Oath. She recognized one of them. The girl in front had a rapier at her hip and long, orangish-brown hair that went past her waist. The other figure was a man with a sword and grayish hair.

As they reached her, Felicita tensed but smiled and said. "Hello. What can I do for you?"

They stopped and the girl in front drew her rapier. "I am Asuna the Lightning Flash. As second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath, I hereby place you, the Shadow Thief, under arrest for your crimes against the general public."

**A/N: There. So many things happened. Now do you see why I was nervous? I tried my best to set Kirito and Felicita's relationship as a sibling-like one. Also, I tried to describe Felicita's mental breakdown without having you all hate her. I still love her! Just think about it, she's been keeping everything to herself for six months. Who wouldn't lose their mind? I know I probably would. And Kirito, you understand why he didn't hate her right (I hated to put him in that situation by the way. He's my favorite anime character. I love him!)? Think about all of the crazies that showed up because they were trapped in the game. SAO drove people insane! And Kirito knows that, he experienced some of that shit firsthand. For example, Grimlock. I mentioned him so you guys might have kept him in mind as you read the rest of the story. Also, I left you with a cliffhanger. Asuna finally showed up! . . . And she wants to arrest our favorite thief . . . Anyway, you should have guessed that Asuna would show up, I put her in the important characters list. So, review, review, review! Especially give me feedback on the interaction between Kirito (was he out of character? I have a bad feeling that I didn't portray him right) and Felicita this chapter. Love you guys! (And I hope that you don't hate me now) See you next update!**


	13. Chapter 13: Asuna the Lightning Flash

Chapter 13: Asuna the Lightning Flash

**A/N: Here we go, the chapter that has Asuna in it! Now you can find out how this plays out. **

As the members of the KoB reached her, Felicita tensed but smiled and said. "Hello. What can I do for you?"

They stopped and the girl in front drew her rapier. "I am Asuna the Lightning Flash. As second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath, I hereby place you, the Shadow Thief, under arrest for your crimes against the general public."

_Oh crap. This is a problem. _Felicita began to panic slightly. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't find her guild if she was in a jail cell. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. She needed to stall until she found an opening to escape.

Felicita got off of her tree and took a step forward, her hands behind her back. "So, Ms. Lightning Flash, you want to arrest me. That's a rude thing to say, considering we just met."

"This is no time for formalities." Asuna said, still brandishing her blade. "You have stolen from countless innocent people. It is time that you pay for your crimes."

"But what if I haven't committed any crimes. What if I am just someone posing as the Shadow Thief? No one has ever seen the Shadow Thief's face. How do you know if that is who I am?"

"Your clothes and weapon choice match the Shadow Thief's description. Not many can choose this style. It's only available and of use when certain skills are high enough. Only a few people have ever chosen to focus on those skills, such as stealth and pickpocketing. They are very fitting for a thief." This was true, Felicita was only able to wield two knives at the same time when her stealth, pickpocketing, and lock picking skills were high enough.

"Very perceptive. I must commend you. I'm curious, though, how did you find me?"

"Someone saw you in the town and called it in." This made Felicita sigh, she had a feeling that something like this would happen. "Enough talk." Asuna said angrily. "Come quietly or I will use force to bring you in."

"I'm sorry, Lightning Flash. I have important business to do and I can't do it inside of your prison. I won't be going with you without a fight."

Asuna smirked. "I'm sorry to hear that. Very well. I will cut you a deal, Shadow Thief. If you can beat me in a duel than I will let you go free . . . for the time being. But if I win, you will come with me without resistance. However, if you do resist, then I will be forced to kill you."

Felicita wasn't expecting an offer, but she thought about it. It sounded good. She knew that Asuna was very skilled, but Felicita had skills of her own and was not planning on losing.

Felicita smiled. "Fine. I'll go along with your offer, Lightning Flash, seeing as how you would chase me down if I fled right now." The duel was Felicita's only choice. She was fast and could run, but she knew that Asuna wasn't called "Lightning Flash" for nothing.

Asuna nodded and pulled up her menu. When Felicita received the duel request, she accepted and made it a one-strike battle. The countdown began and they moved into place, Asuna and Felicita stood several yards away from each other while Asuna's companion stood close by, watching. As the Lightning Flash stood at the ready, with her rapier in front of her, Felicita went through her menu and switched her knives out for her short sword. It looked like Asuna was about to question her so Felicita gave an explanation. "If it's all the same to you, I prefer to use my short sword when fighting an opponent head on rather than use my status inhibiting knives, mostly because it's more of a fair fight that way."

Asuna looked at her opponent, her eyebrows furrowed. _Who knew that the Shadow Thief had a sense of fair play?_

Both girls stood, their swords at the ready, waiting for the countdown to get to zero. They looked each other in the eye, not taking their eyes away for a second. The timer ticked and a tense silence filled the air. They began to circle each other and, before they knew it the timer initiated the battle.

Felicita wanted to get this over with as soon as possible so she struck first. She rushed Asuna, then as she got closer, she dropped and struck from below. Asuna swiftly parried and their swords locked for a moment. Then Asuna flipped over Felicita and released several quick jabs at Felicita's back, but Felicita had rolled away by then so Asuna only struck air. Cursing under her breath, Asuna placed her free hand down so that it landed on the ground first and she used it to manipulate her momentum and quickly flip so that she landed on her feet.

The Shadow Thief was already coming in for another attack, her strategy was to be aggressive. She rushed in and spun so that her sword built up momentum and rushed at Asuna in a horizontal slash. Asuna ducked and jabbed her rapier forward, only to strike air again as Felicita gracefully did a one-handed back flip to dodge. As the thief landed on her feet, Asuna took the opportunity to strike first. She rushed in with her rapier, activating a sword skill that turned it orange, and executed multiple quick jabs. She was surprised when Felicita was able to dodge all of them. Felicita then stabbed upward at Asuna's head. Asuna barely moved her head to the side in time and tried to stab Felicita in the side, but the thief simply cartwheeled away.

The other member of the KoB stood nearby and watched in amazement at the blurs that were clashing in front of him. He was surprised that there was someone capable of keeping up with the second-in-command.

Felicita on the other hand, knew that she would soon be reaching her limit. She was surprised to find someone that could match her speed, but she was starting to think that Asuna may have been faster than her. As the fight progressed, Felicita noticed how hard it was to dodge some of Asuna's attacks and how easily Asuna dodged some of hers. It would only be a matter of time before Asuna finally landed a blow. The thief's mind began to race as she tried to devise a plan to win, but no matter what attack or sword skill she thought to use, she could easily see the Lightning Flash dodging it. She scanned her surroundings as she fought, trying to find something she could use to her advantage. Then, just off of the path from where they were fighting, Felicita noticed a bunch of different sized rocks behind Asuna and had an idea.

She rushed at Asuna, then quickly jumped and tried to land an aerial blow. Asuna put her rapier up and blocked. Felicita used that and her momentum to flip over Asuna and land in a crouch among the rocks. Asuna turned and immediately dashed in pursuit. She charged her sword skill and sent multiple jabs at her opponent with her rapier. Felicita parried them and rushed forward with her own set of rapid attacks. She sent slash after slash at Asuna, forcing her to put all of her focus on blocking and dodging. Felicita willed herself to go faster, slowly pushing Asuna backward. Asuna was so focused that she wasn't paying any attention to her footing. As she took another step back, her foot caught on a rock. Asuna panicked slightly as she reeled backward. Felicita took this opportunity to slash downward on Asuna's shoulder. Asuna saw this and put her rapier up to block while she tried to regain her balance at the same time. Felicita smirked and turned her blow into a feint. She redirected her sword and it ended up slashing Asuna in the leg.

Asuna fell over and Felicita jumped back in triumph as the Congratulations icon appeared in front of her. She swiped her sword in front of her once before sheathing it behind her back at the waist.

Asuna still sat on the ground, amazed that she had been beaten. Felicita smirked and looked at her, her hands on her hips. "Looks like I win Ms. Second-in-command. I had to use a little trickery there, you would have beaten me otherwise, but we both know that, in a fight for your life, there are no rules." She bowed grandly. "I guess you will be arresting me another day." She smiled as she straightened up and looked at Asuna again.

Then, she was literally stabbed in the back. She fell forward and onto the ground. Luckily, her face had turned to the side so she could see behind her. Asuna's companion was above her, holding a knife in her back. He pulled it out and she tried to move, but then noticed the paralysis symbol next to her health bar.

Felicita laughed once. "I wouldn't have expected you to play dirty, Lightning Flash."

Asuna was standing now, and marching her way over to them. "Kuradeel, what are you doing? I fully intended to keep my promise. I didn't order you to do this."

Kuradeel straightened and said in reply to his commanding officer. "Excuse me, ma'am, but the Shadow Thief seemed to be getting the best of you and, while you made that deal I did not, so I followed our orders in taking the thief into custody."

Asuna didn't look happy about this but remained silent as Kuradeel lifted Felicita and carried her over his shoulder. Felicita smirked but inside she was freaking out. _What the hell am I supposed to do now?!_

* * *

Felicita was unceremoniously thrown into her cell at the KoB headquarters. She landed painfully on her back on the cold, stone floor. She sat there, dazed in pain until her cell door closed with a loud clang. She quickly got up and put her hands on the bars. "I would have walked in myself you know!" She yelled at the guard who had thrown her. He smiled unapologetically and walked away, leaving another guard to stand watch, his back to the cell.

The small girl huffed. Now she was stuck there with crappy company like that guy was. She would either be there until the game was cleared, they decided to put her on trial, or they decided to just kill her, whatever came first. She looked around, trying to find something to do. Then, the guard in front of her cell caught her attention. He seemed to fidget as he stood there. She smirked.

"Hey guy," She said, making the guard glance at her. "Can you tell me which way the exit is? That way this will just run smoother when I break out of here later." He turned swiftly, his spear pointed at her. "Don't be stupid. I don't have anything to break out with. I was searched, remember? I only have the clothes on my back." The guard relaxed slightly. Felicita folded her arms around the bars. "So, what's your name?" The guard remained silent. "Come on. I just wanted to be friendly and start a conversation."

He turned, so he wasn't facing her, and answered. "I'm not allowed to talk to you."

"Aw." Felicita whined. "You're no fun. Alright, I guess I will just teleport out of here then." The guard quickly turned, his spear pointed at her again. She just smirked at him. "What did I just tell you?" He looked really irritated now. He turned back around and didn't say anything. "Maybe if you told me your name I wouldn't mess with you as much."

The guard hesitated. He really wasn't supposed to talk to her, but he was really annoyed by her at this point so he took his chances. "Shigure." He said.

"Hm." Felicita thought about it for a moment. "Does that mean you can turn into a dog?"

Shigure looked at her, confused. "What?"

"Bark for me." The thief commanded.

"No."

"Then beg."

"No!"

"I thought that dogs were supposed to be obedient." She picked up a stone from the floor and threw it into the hallway. "Fetch." Shigure just looked at her. "Do you at least like dogs?"

Shigure turned to face front again. "I guess."

"Were you born in the year of the dog?"

"No. What's with all the dog questions?"

"Why are you talking to me? I thought you weren't allowed to." Shigure looked at her for a moment, then quickly faced forward. This girl was starting to get on his nerves. Felicita just smirked. "I think that we will become great friends, Shigure." She retreated from the bars and sat in a corner. _No one ever gets my references._ Staying in a jail cell may not be as boring as she thought it would.

* * *

Nothing very interesting happened until the next day. She was sleeping on the floor of her cell when she heard a voice. "Hey." It said. Felicita just stirred a little. "Wake up."

The girl turned over. "No." She mumbled. "Five more minutes."

"Fel, if you don't wake up now, I'm leaving you here."

_That voice sounds familiar. _She sat up groggily and turned toward the voice. When her vision focused, her eyes widened and she smiled broadly. "Kirito-kun!"

Kirito looked at the thief through the bars, his arms were crossed and he had a smirk on his face. "I can't leave you alone for one day, can I?"

Felicita walked up to the bars, still smiling. "Nope. I am totally helpless."

Kirito sighed. "It seems that way." He moved aside to allow a guard to unlock the door. Once it was open, Felicita rushed out and hugged Kirito. He held her with one arm and fondly patted her head with his free hand. "You're lucky I heard about your arrest when I did. I was able to put in a good word for you."

Felicita pulled away and said. "Thanks, Kirito-kun."

He smirked. "That makes me like your knight in shining armor. Have you fallen for me yet?"

Felicita punched him on the arm. "No. In your dreams."

"Again with the violence? And after I bailed you out of jail too."

Felicita smiled. "That's just me. Deal with it."

Then they heard someone walking up to them. They both turned to see Asuna quickly making her way over to them. She stopped a few feet away and opened up a trading menu. "Here are your things. Sorry I arrested you. I didn't know that Kirito had worked something out with you already."

Felicita accepted the trade and happily re-equipped her gear. "It's fine Asuna-san."

"Just 'Asuna' is fine."

Felicita looked between the two next to her. "So how do you guys know each other?"

"We fight on the front lines together a lot." Kirito answered her.

Felicita's eyes widened. "Really?" They nodded. "Kirito-kun, you didn't tell me that you were on the front lines."

He rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't?"

"Yes, you did tell me, that's why I asked." She said sarcastically, then punched him on the arm again. "No you didn't tell me, stupid!"

"Sorry! Geez."

"How did you find out I was arrested, anyway."

"I mentioned it to him." Asuna answered. "Then he freaked out and told me that he had convinced you to give up stealing. We were able to get you released." Asuna turned and gestured for them to follow her. "Come on, I'll lead you out."

Kirito and Felicita followed Asuna as she led them out of the prison. Then, for some reason that Felicita couldn't quite figure out, Kirito and Asuna got into an argument.

"How do you expect to get anywhere in life, Kirito, if you always play solo?"

"What are you talking about? I am perfectly fine soloing."

"I don't just mean while fighting, I also mean socially. I told you that it wouldn't hurt to make some friends."

"I'm doing that! See, Felicita's my friend."

"When I said make friends I didn't mean with wanted criminals! Use some common sense."

"But what's wrong with Fel? She's not stealing anymore!"

"I didn't mean anything against her! I bet that she's the only one other than myself on your friends list isn't she?"

"I-I didn't say that!"

"But you stuttered, which just proves it."

"Stop making things up, Asuna!"

"I'm not. Fine, prove me wrong. Name three of your other friends then."

"Uh . . ."

"Well? Go on."

"I . . . don't have to answer you."

"I was right."

"But I didn't say anything!"

"Exactly, which proves my point."

Kirito made a short growling sound in his throat and Felicita couldn't help but laugh. Asuna and Kirito looked at her. "What?"

Felicita smiled wryly at them "You two remind me of an old married couple." Kirito and Asuna blushed slightly, not looking at each other. Then Asuna quickly walked ahead of them. Felicita then whispered to Kirito. "She's a good one. Don't screw it up."

"What are you talking about?" Kirito asked, still blushing. The small girl beside him just smiled and continued to walk. For some reason, she enjoyed making Kirito feel uncomfortable.

As they reached the exit, Felicita sighed and stretched. "Well, thanks, guys. I guess I'll be going now."

"Wait. You can't leave yet."

Felicita looked back at Asuna. "Why?" She was confused.

Kirito and Asuna glanced at each other. Kirito then looked at Felicita. "There's a catch to your release."

Felicita's heart dropped. Of course just being released was too good to be true. "What is it?"

Asuna looked at her for a while. "Commander Heathcliff would like a word with you."

** A/N: Oh no! Heathcliff wants to talk to her! I wonder what he wants to say . . . just kidding, I already know! Ha! And you don't! Suffer, pathetic readers! Anyway, hoped you liked this chapter, especially the duel and the character interaction. Also, did anyone get my Shigure reference? It's ok if you didn't, I'll reveal it later if you want me to, but I hope that you were still entertained. So, please review and all that crap at your own convenience. See you next update!**


	14. Chapter 14: The KoB's Dog

Chapter 14: The KoB's Dog

**A/N: Well this definitely came earlier than I expected, seeing as how I just updated my other story a several hours ago. It's really late too. What is it like 3:30 in the morning? Oh well, I couldn't sleep anyway. Now, go ahead and read my little darlings, I know you want to.**

Felicita was now walking through the halls of the KoB's headquarters with Kirito. Asuna had had some important second-in-command business to take care of so she couldn't accompany them. Kirito was taking Felicita to meet with Commander Heathcliff, seeing as how Felicita had never stepped foot in the KoB's headquarters before and couldn't go by herself.

As they walked, Kirito couldn't help but notice that Felicita was fidgeting and fingering one of her knives under her cloak. Her hood was down though, and he figured that that was a good step for her.

The swordsman put a hand on Felicita's head. "Hey, it's going to be fine." He reassured her. "Heathcliff can be really strict but he's a very reasonable man."

"Yeah, I guess." Felicita sighed. "But what does he want to talk to me about? I'm a thief. What would he want from me?"

"I'm not really sure." Kirito said thoughtfully, one hand on his elbow, the other on his chin. "He didn't give us any specific details when we convinced him to release you." Suddenly, Felicita stopped walking. Kirito noticed after a few steps and turned to look at her. "Fel? What's wrong?" He realized that she was staring passed him at something. The boy was about to turn around to look when Felicita pulled him into a nearby hallway. "What-?" he began, but the girl just shushed him as she stood next to him against the wall.

Felicita hugged his arm, as if trying to hide behind him. Kirito was confused. Then he heard voices and looked in their direction. It took a while, but eventually a group of KoB members came into view. Felicita's grip on Kirito's arm tightened as they passed. The group wouldn't see them unless they looked down the hall they were in and she was afraid that they would.

Once the group had passed, Kirito and Felicita stood in shocked silence for a minute. Then Kirito turned and looked down at the girl clutching his arm. "Ryner-san." He said.

Felicita looked up at him. "Did you know that he was a Knight of the Blood Oath?"

Kirito shook his head. "No, I don't know many members of the KoB personally."

"And the boy in the front . . . that was . . ."

"Toma." Kirito finished for her. "He's a skilled lance-user. He has a high rank but not nearly as high as Asuna's. Do you know him?"

Felicita nodded after a while. "He was in my guild before we met you and Seiji."

Kirito's eyes widened. "Really?"

Felicita nodded again before looking down at the ground. "He left because he thought that we were holding him back. I guess we were, seeing as how he was able to get a high rank in the KoB." For some reason, Kirito felt like he did not like Toma very much at that moment. Felicita looked back up at Kirito. "Kirito-kun, what could this mean? If Ryner is here, then . . ."

Kirito knew what she was thinking. He shook his head. "No, your guild is _not_ dead, don't think that. I know Silica personally, she isn't dead. Now I know I can't say the same thing about Riku-san, but if she's as strong as you say, she's not dead either." Felicita pondered his words before nodding. Kirito tugged his arm gently. "We can worry about that later, but right now, we have something important to do."

". . . Ok." Felicita finally said before letting go of Kirito's arm. She followed him back into the hallway that they had been in before and continued to walk. As the swordsman led her, Felicita was absorbed in her thoughts. She was really worried now. What had happened to the Timber Wolves? Where was Riku? Felicita shook her head. Kirito was right, she had something important to deal with right now. Everything else would have to wait.

Finally they reached the large doors that led into the room Heathcliff was waiting in. Kirito turned to look at Felicta. "Alright, this is as far as I can go. You will have to go in on your own. Just stay calm and everything should be fine." Felicita nodded nervously. Kirito pointed to a door down the hall. "I'll be waiting in the first room to the left. Go in there when you're finished. I'll leave the door open, so just run out screaming if you need me. I'll hear you."

Felicita gave a small smile and punched him on the arm lightly. "Like I'm going to do that. I need to keep _some _of my dignity intact."

"I'm just saying, I'll be your knight in shining armor and run to your rescue. You'll definitely fall for me then." He smirked as she punched him again. "Seriously, I'll be there if you need me."

"Ok. Thanks, Kirito-kun."

Kirito lightly patted the top of her head. "No problem." With that, Felicita glanced at him one last time before opening the doors and going inside.

As Felicita closed the doors behind her, she couldn't help but look in awe at the large room in front of her. Not much was in it. A long desk was at the other side of the room, the wall behind it completely made of glass. The rest of the room was empty, which Felicita thought was just a waste of space. Behind the desk was a man with grayish hair. She knew it was Heathcliff because his clothes were unique, red with white trimming instead of the other way around.

Heathcliff was stoic faced as he addressed her. "You must be the Shadow Thief. Please come in." Felicita quietly did as she was told and walked to stand a few yards in front of the desk. He contemplated her for a moment before saying "I apologize for the treatment you received when you arrived. We were unaware that you had previously spoken to Kirito." Felicita stood quietly so Heathcliff continued. "I understand that you and Kirito came to an agreement."

Felicita nodded. "Yes sir. I told him that I would give up stealing from green players and I would put my talents toward something more productive."

Heathcliff rested his elbows on the table and pressed his fingertips together, forming a steeple. "May I ask what you plan to do?"

The petite girl hesitated before answering. "Before I became a thief, there were some people that I held very close to my heart. I know that they're in Aincrad somewhere and I want to make amends with them."

Heathcliff nodded his head in approval. "That is a worthy goal. Very understandable."

Felicita fidgeted in her spot nervously before asking "Sir, may I ask why you released me and called me here?"

"Ah, yes, you must be wondering about my reasoning. Well, despite the fact that you have sworn off crimes against the common, honest player, we cannot simply wave off your previous offenses. You stole from countless people in the past and that cannot be ignored."

Felicita swallowed nervously. "Am I to be sentenced?"

"To death? No. We try to avoid unnecessary killing. I had something else in mind. To atone for your transgressions, normally you would either have to pay a fine or be sentenced to prison until SAO is cleared. However, we both know that you do not have the col to pay such a fine, otherwise you would not have become a thief. The other option would be to let you rot in jail but then your skill set would be wasted. So I have come up with an alternative: you will become . . . shall I say the Knights of the Blood Oath's dog until this game is cleared. You are not required to join our guild, but you must follow orders that we give you. However, we will give you ample time to pursue your goal."

Felicita thought about the offer. It sounded slightly demeaning working as the dog of the biggest and most powerful guild in Aincrad, but it sounded better than staying in a jail cell. The girl nodded. "I would be glad to accept."

"I am glad to hear that, but you cannot have this position just yet." Felicita looked at him in confusion. "I have heard a great deal of your talents from Kirito, but I want to see them for myself, so you must prove to me just how skilled and trustworthy you can be as well as what you can do to benefit the Knights of the Blood Oath and all players in Aincrad." Heathcliff folded his hands and waited for the thief to reply.

Felicita stood there, shocked, but her mind began to race all the same. What could she do to prove herself? Then, she had an idea. It left a bad feeling in her stomach, but if she could pull it off, then Heathcliff would be sure to let her take the position. She wasn't looking forward to being his underling, but she _did _want to atone for the mistakes that she made.

The girl took a breath and began to speak. "Well . . ."

* * *

Kirito was pacing across the rug in the room he was waiting in. The room looked almost like a break room. A few soft chairs and a couch stood in the center of the rug surrounding a small coffee table. Asuna sat in one of the chairs, her legs crossed and her fingers nervously drumming on the armrest. She had walked in a few minutes ago, having walked by and seen Kirito inside. She was now waiting with him until Felicita came back.

Finally Asuna couldn't take it anymore. "Kirito, will you sit down? Just watching you makes me nervous."

Kirito shook his head. "I tried sitting down earlier, but I couldn't stay in the chair."

Asuna watched him for a moment. "You're really worried, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah!" Kirito said, his hands briefly going into the air. "She's been in there for a while now."

A minute later, Asuna asked. "Why are you helping her? Not that it's a bad thing, you just seem really driven."

Kirito gave his answer some thought before saying "She's been through a lot since this game began. I just really want to help her out."

". . . What's your relationship with her? I mean, you two seem really close."

Kirito glanced at her. "We met earlier on in the game and then again a few days ago. She's a really good friend. Actually, it feels more like she's my little sister. Why?"

Asuna looked away from him and out the window. "No reason. I was just curious." Why did her cheeks suddenly feel warm?

There was silence between them for a few minutes. Then Felicita walked into the room. "Fel." Kirito said as he ceased his pacing. She went to meet them in the middle of the room.

"How did it go?" Asuna asked.

Felicita gave a small smile. "Well, he said that I couldn't simply be pardoned for my crimes, so I have to be like the KoB's dog until SAO is cleared. I have to follow orders and do jobs for them."

"Well that doesn't sound that bad." Asuna reasoned.

Kirito, however, noticed that Felicita was avoiding eye contact and instead was looking at the ground. He looked at her sternly. "That's not it is it? What else did he say, Fel?"

The small girl hesitated before continuing. "He said that I have to prove myself first before I can take the position."

"Ok. And what did he say?"

". . . It's more like what I said."

"Fel . . . what did you agree to do?" The girl remained quiet as she looked at the floor. Kirito's mind began to race as he thought about the things that Felicita could have offered. What was something that only she could do? Then his eyes widened as he came to an answer. He grabbed Felicita by the shoulders and looked at her face. "You didn't."

Asuna was confused. "What? What didn't she do?"

Felicita still wouldn't look at them. "It's supposed to be secret."

"We won't tell anyone, Fel. We promise. Now what did you say?" Kirito asked but Felicita remained quiet. His grip relaxed slightly as he continued. "Fine. I'll just say what I think you said." The thief looked up into Kirito's eyes. "You told him that you would infiltrate and take down Laughing Coffin didn't you?" Kirito saw Felicita's eyes guiltily look to the ground, and knew he was right.

* * *

Earlier, during Felicita's meeting with Heathcliff, Felicita just finished offering the only thing she could think of. Heathcliff had his hands folded thoughtfully under his chin. "That is some offer, it would be very beneficial if you succeeded. But it is a large job. Are you certain that you can accomplish it?"

Felicita nodded. "I was offered a place in their ranks several days ago. I have yet to give them a reply, but if I agree to it now and they trust me enough to let me in, then I could leak information about them to you and with that, we could potentially bring them down."

"You do realize that this is a test of _your _capabilities? No one from the guild can help you."

The girl in front of him nodded. "I am aware, sir. I should be fine though. With my high stealth and listening skills I should be able to glean a lot of information. As long as I'm not found out, I won't be killed."

Heathcliff considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. Since you are so sure that you are capable of this endeavor, it will be your assignment. Just so you know, you will be under constant surveillance until this matter is over, you _are_ being tested. Also, you must keep this a secret. Obviously, if word got out, it could eventually reach Laughing Coffin's ears. The higher-ups of this guild will be made aware, but that is about it. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Then good luck, you are dismissed." Felicita nodded and turned, making her way toward the exit.

* * *

Asuna stared at Felicita and Kirito, shocked at what it had been discovered that Felicita had offered to prove herself. "What? But how could anyone pull that off?"

Felicita glanced at her nervously. "They invited me into their guild a few days ago. If I accept and get in, I could bring them down from the inside."

"Surely you're not planning on doing this alone?" Asuna asked.

Felicita nodded. "Heathcliff said that no one from the guild was allowed to help me." She was starting to regret offering to take down the biggest murder guild in Aincrad, her knees were starting to feel weak.

It was silent for a moment. Then Kirito spoke up. "Then that's how it's going to be. No one from the guild will help you, but I will."

"What?" Asuna asked incredulously.

Felicita was dumbfounded. ". . . Kirito-kun."

"I'm not a member of this guild, remember? So I'll help you." Kirito said with a smile, his hands on his hips.

"Is-Is that really ok?" Asuna questioned.

Kirito nodded. "As long as I'm not found out." He turned to look at the former thief. "So what do you say? How does a partnership sound?"

Felicita looked at him for a minute. Then she smiled and hugged him gratefully, tears were in her eyes. She was so relieved. She had been scared at the prospect of completing this task alone. "A partnership sounds good." Felicita said into Kirito's shirt. "Thank you, Kirito-kun."

"Hey, what are friends for?" He asked as he hugged her back.

"I'm pretty sure they're not for helping each other infiltrate murder guilds." She answered, her voice muffled.

Kirito chuckled. "No, I guess not."

They pulled away and Asuna spoke. "Felicita-san, I know that the guild isn't supposed to help, but if you need absolutely anything, I'm sure I can arrange something."

Felicita smiled at her. "Thanks, Asuna. By the way, you don't have to call me that anymore. It sounds too formal."

* * *

The next day, Kirito and Felicita made their way to the clearing on Floor 31 where Laughing Coffin made their offer to Felicita. Before they arrived, they agreed that, while Felicita was with Laughing Coffin, they couldn't be friends or in a party in case they forced her to show them her menu. However, Kirito promised to stay close by so he could keep an eye on Felicita and come to her aid if need be.

Felicita went into the clearing alone, Kirito was nearby, hidden among the trees. The girl stood there apprehensively, she would have been outright scared, but knowing that Kirito was close by, she felt reassured.

It wasn't long before several figures appeared from the shadows and came to stand in front of Felicita. The same, low, cold voice that had offered her the position in Laughing Coffin spoke to her. "So, Shadow Thief, have you come to a decision?"

Felicita gathered herself together before answering. "Yes. I accept."

"We're very happy to hear that." He said. From his tone, Felicita could tell that he was smiling. The man turned. "If you would follow me."

**A/N: Ok, so there you have it. I think I'm getting better at leaving cliffhangers. What do you guys think? Well, I've been doing it for the past few chapters so I could only improve from there. So, a lot of things happened in this chapter. What's going to happen next you ask? Well I'm evil, so I won't tell you. Just wait and see what happens with Ryner, Toma, and Laughing Coffin! By the way, I should have mentioned this last chapter, but do you like the book cover I have for this story? It's not as good as the one I have for my other one but his one isn't half bad. Well, review for now! Tell me your thoughts. I always get excited when I see I have a new review and so far, the words you guys put have done nothing but make my day! See ya next chapter!**


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